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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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MWk^^»0^ak 


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F 


TO 

SAMUEL    BOWLES, 

FOR  WHOSE  JOURNAL  THESE  SKETCHES  WERE  ORIGINALLY 
PREPARED. 


1094829 


THERE  is  no  attempt  at  completeness  in  these  sketches  of  Old 
Springfield.  The  way-side  inn,  with  its  story-teller  and  flavor 
of  flip,  no  longer  gathers  a  nightly  company,  and  the  historian 
will  be  hard  taxed  to  restore  the  picture.  But  the  "oldest 
inhabitant "  has  been  interviewed  against  his  coming,  and  the 
results,  printed  in  the  Springfield  Republican  during  the  past 
year,  are  no\v  brought  together  in  these  bric-a-brac  pages. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS.,  Dec.  1st,  1876. 


INDEX 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.  SPRINGFIELD  VILLAGE  IN  1776,      ....      9 

II.     OLD  TIME  BRIC-A-BRAC, 26 

III.  FLIP  DAYS  IN  SPRINGFIELD, 39 

IV.  SPRINGFIELD  TRADE  HALF  A  CENTURY  AGO,  .         .     42 
V.  THE  OLD  MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION,       .        .         .51 

VI.  MIGRATION  OF  THE  FROGS,      .        .        .        .         .59 

VII.  COURT  SQUARE  AND  THE  ELMS,       .         .         .         .62 

VIII.     EARLY  SIGHTS  AND  SCENES, 68 

IX.     THE  BRECK  CONTROVERSY, 82 

X.     FASHIONS  AND  THINGS, 96 


SPRINGFIELD  MEMORIES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

SPEINGFIELD  VILLAGE  IN  1776. 

THE  visitor  to  the  village  of  Springfield,  in  1776, 
standing  at  the  corner  of  Main  street  and  Ferry  lane 
(Cypress  street) — at  that  time  the  business  center — 
would  have  in  view,  down  the  west  side  of  the  street, 
most  of  its  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  houses,  and 
the  solitary  church  spire,  with  pasture  land  running 
back  to  the  river.  On  the  east  side  were  a  mountain 
brook,  a  narrow  strip  of  wet  grass  land,  ("  hasseky 
marish  ") — as  often  a  pond  as  a  meadow — and  an  elm 
and  oak-fringed  forest  of  pine,  rising  into  a  broad 
plateau.  To  the  right,  on  the  narrow  vista  of  river, 
could  be  seen  the  ferryman's  flat  scow,  "  set  over  with 
poles,"  either  bringing  grain  and  hay  from  West 
Springfield,  or  taking  back  groceries.  Up  and  down 
the  street  walked  the  old  merchants  in  knee-breeches, 
and  the  younger  and  gayer  in  scarlet  coats,  with  per- 
chance a  passing  slave,  or  wigged  magistrate,  or  plain 


10  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

housewife  carrying  water  from  the  brook  across  the 
way.  With  a  little  luck,  too,  one  might  have  heard 
the  sound  of  rifle  up  on  the  plain,  (Armory  Hill), 
where  a  venturous  deer  had  browsed,  or  even  an  occa- 
sional stage- horn  from  the  "  Bay  Path,"  before  the 
coach  entered  from  Boston  over  the  marsh  by  a  nar- 
row corduroy  causeway,  (State  street).  In  her  then 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years  of  history,  the  village 
had  grown  but  little,  and  her  territory,  as  she  entered 
the  Revolution,  had  been  greatly  reduced.  Her 
children  plantations  of  West  Springfield,  Southwick, 
Westfield,  Suffield,  Enfield  and  Somers,  had,  one  by 
one,  set  up  for  themselves,  though  Springfield  still 
cherished  Longmeadow  and  Chicopee  Falls,  and  sus- 
tained her  claim  of  being  the  hub  of  all  Western 
Massachusetts. 

Strolling  down  toward  the  big  elm,  the  most  prom- 
inent and  uninviting  building  in  architecture  and  loca- 
tion was  the  Court-house,  built  fifty-five  years  before. 
It  stood,  square  and  ill-mannerly,  out  into  the  road, 
(at  the  head  of  Sanford  street),  over,  or  perhaps  be- 
yond the  brook,  and  in  front  of  it  was  a  whipping- 
post. Executions  used  to  be  in  public,  and  on  gal- 
lows almost  as  high  as  Haman's,  so  that  it  could  be  seen 
at  a  great  distance.  The  whipping-post  was  also  al- 
ways prominently  situated ;  and  from  the  external 
rigidity  of  Puritans,  a  traveling  Voltaire  might  call 
the  whipping-post  a  very  good  statue  in  wood  of  New 
England's  god.  A  little  to  the  south,  in  front  of 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  11 

H.  &  J.  Brewer's  drug  store,  was  an  elm,  used  also  for 
a  whipping-post.  The  late  Daniel  Lombard  used  to  tell 
how  he  pitied  the  unfortunates  whom  he  saw  stripped, 
and  publicly  flogged  there.  Back  of  the  present  old 
Town  hall  on  State  street,  was  a  new  brick  school-house, 
costing  £117.  Across  the  way,  eighteen  feet  north 
of  the  large  elm  on  the  Common,  rose  the  famous 
tavern  of  Zenas  Parsons,  which  had  a  fearfully  high 
wing  on  Main  street  (when  afterward  detached  dubbed 
the  "Light  house,")  and  barns  and  sheds  along  Meet- 
ing-house lane,  (Elm  street).  Beyond  the  sheds,  stand- 
ing partly  on  Elm  street,  and  partly  on  the  south-west 
corner  of  the  present  Court  Square,  stood  the  church, 
holding  on  the  finger  of  its  steeple  the  same  golden 
rooster  that  to-day  wags  his  thin  tail  in  all  weathers. 
The  ground  back  to  the  river  was  open  pasture  and 
meadow  land.  There  was  a  pair  of  bars  across  Meet- 
ing-house lane  by  the  church,  and,  at  a  later  day,  and 
presumedly  at  this  time,  passers  leaving  the  bars 
down  were  fined.  This  lane  led  through  the  burying- 
ground  and  adjoining  training  field  to  the  middle 
landing.  It  wasn't  an  accident  that  the  latter  field 
was  so  near  the  grave-stones.  Training  was  a  sacred 
duty,  always  opened  with  prayer,  and  continued  to 
the  beat  of  the  same  drum  that  called  them  to  Sab- 
bath service.  Along  the  river  bank  was  a  path  pro- 
tected by  a  town  law,  each  fence  having  a  gate  with 
a  post  set  in  the  middle,  to  check  the  cattle. 

The  church,  at  this  time  some  twenty-five  years 


12  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

old,  was  sixty  feet  by  forty-six,  with  a  tower  on  the 
lane,  but  the  main  entrance  toward  the  east.  The 
seats  were  square  and  the  pulpit  high,  extending  over 
the  deacon  seats,  which  faced  the  congregation. 
Above  was  a  ponderous  sounding-board,  and  nervous 
people  used  to  fear,  during  sermon  time,  that  it  would 
fall  into  the  pulpit,  and  that  on  to  the  deacons  below. 
The  old  box  pews  and  high  pulpits  have  their  origin 
in  the  English  churches,  which  have  pulpits  of 
such  altitudes  as  to  tax  the  neck,  even,  of  a  high 
churchman,  to  look  at  them.  The  deacon's  hat  is 
spoken  of  by  old  people  as  a  peculiar  insignia  of 
office,  which,  with  his  powdered  hair,  made  him  look 
venerable  enough.  The  broad  galleries  held  as  many 
as  the  body  seats,  and  in  a  back  and  high  corner, 
nearest  the  shingles,  the  colored  people  took  their 
religion,  which  may  suggest  the  origin  of  our  "  nigger 
heaven."  The  deacons,  at  this  time,  were  Nathaniel 
Brewer,  son  of  the  former  minister,  and,  as  a  carpen- 
ter, often  employed  in  church  repairs,  Daniel  Harris, 
and  probably  Moses  Bliss,  who  certainly  was  four 
years  later.  Judge  Bliss  was  not  less  distinguished 
for  his  sterling  parts  and  godliness,  than  for  his  eccen- 
tricities. He  wore  a  powdered  wig,  knee-breeches, 
low  shoes  and  shining  buckles.  They  say  that  he 
first  heard  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  he 
touched  the  wharf  from  West  Springfield  with  a  load 
of  hay ;  and,  not  being  able  to  elevate  his  continental 
heels  and  cocked  hat  high  enough,  he  at  once  set  fire 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  13 

to  the  hay,  amid  the  unlimited  enthusiasm  of  every- 
body. This  sort  of  originality  ran  in  the  family,  and 
probably  from  his  father,  Jedidiah,  they  were  called 
"  Jedites,"  and  to  be  odd  or  "  singularly  gaited,"  was 
to  be  "  jeddy."  But  individuality  was  in  the  line  of 
local  things.  The  elder  Pynchon  had  come  to  the 
Connecticut,  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  before, 
where  he  could  get  beaver  skins  and  have  his  religion 
free.  Of  skins  there  were  plenty  ;  but  they  burned 
his  book  on  Boston  Common,  and  he  was  "jeddy" 
enough  to  return  to  England.  John  Hitchcock,  of  the 
Wilbraham  church,  was  a  strongly  individualized  dea- 
con. He  was,  physically,  the  most  remarkable  man 
of  his  time,  and  his  churchly  decorum  did  not  prevent 
him,  on  one  occasion,  from  running  a  race  with  a 
horse,  ten  miles  into  the  village,  and  getting  there 
first!  But  Hampden  Park  was  not.  Horses  have 
since  gone  up,  and  deacons  down  ;  and  there  probably 
now  is  not  a  deacon  in  Western  Massachusetts  who 
can  beat  the  time  made  at  the  fall  races.  Twenty- 
five  years  before,  the  Chinese  wall  through  the  con- 
gregation, dividing  males  and  females,  was  broken 
down,  but  it  took  all  the  wisdom  the  selectmen  and 
deacons  could  command  to  assign  the  seats,  "  either 
higher  or  lower  as  they  should  judge  most  meete." 
The  meeting-house  was  not  warmed,  in  those  days, 
and  the  preacher  often  pointed  to  the  ceiling  with  his 
big,  worsted  mitten,  while  the  women  used  foot- 
stoves,  and  everybody  else  knocked  heel  against  heel. 


14  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

Entering  Main  street  again,  a  little  north  of  Zenas 
Parsons',  was  another  tavern,  where  Tinkham's  store 
now  is,  kept  by  Moses  Church.  He  was  afterward,  if 
not  at  this  time,  postmaster,  his  office  being  across  the 
way,  back  of  the  brook,  and  on  the  border  of  the 
meadow.  Deacon  Daniel  Harris'  house  came  next, 
with  a  lot,  like  all  his  neighbors,  extending  to  the 
river ;  and  next  Daniel  Lombard,  on  the  south  corner 
of  Pynchon  and  Main  streets  ;  then  the  deputy  sher- 
iff, William  Pynchon,  Jr.,  where  the  Haynes  House 
now  is,  and  his  brother,  John,  father-in-law  of  the 
late  Henry  Brewer,  across  the  way,  which  was  the  last 
building  on  that  side  for  over  a  mile,  or  to  Carew 
street.  Rev.  Robert  Breck  occupied  the  parsonage, 
the  site  of  Fallon's  block.  He  was  then  in  the  forty- 
first  year  of  his  ministry,  which,  beginning  in  an  ec-^ 
clesiastical  war  over  his  orthodoxy,  ripened  through 
a  long  period  of  peace  in  the  church  and  noise  of  war 
without.  Beyond  the  Parsons  property,  (the  Justin 
Lombard  site,)  was  the  Worthington  tavern,  near  the 
north  corner  of  Bridge  and  Main.  Lieutenant  Wor- 
thington had  died,  two  years  before,  and  his  son,  who 
is  known  as  the  Hon.  John  Worthington,  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  estate,  and  become  one  of  the  old 
"  River  Gods."  Among  his  many  distinctions  is  that 
of  being  the  first  Springfi elder  who  carried  an  um- 
brella, for  the  sunj  however,  instead  of  the  rain. 
He  didn't  burn  many  tons  of  hay  out  of  love  for  the 
rebels.  He  was,  indeed,  called  a  rank  tory,  and  his  en- 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  15 

ergetic  gymnastics  toward  Philadelphia  about  this 
time,  gave  color  to  the  charge.  But  the  village,  in  the 
end,  came  to  love  him  in  spite  of  his  haughty  bearing, 
and  he  did  good  service  as  a  member  of  the  govern- 
or's council,  and  at  other  posts  of  duty.  The  colonel 
closed  the  tavern,  but  it  was  opened  again  during  the 
war  of  1812 ;  and  at  the  news  of  the  peace,  Elijah 
Goodrich,  who  then  kept  it,  treated  a  procession  of 
citizens  to  toddy,  dealing  it  out  in  pails.  When  the 
western  road  was  opened,  Charles  Stearns  moved  it 
back  to  the  corner  of  Worthington  and  Water  streets, 
where  he  had  an  old-fashioned  house-warming,  with 
peat  burning  in  the  grates.  The  Pynchon  family 
owned  from  a  point  near  the  Worthington  tavern,  to 
Ferry  lane  (Cypress  street).  Edward,  the  register  of 
deeds,  who  died  the  following  year,  probably  lived  in 
the  old  fortified  brick  house,  on  the  site  of  Fort  block, 
which  has  been  much  written  about, — one  of  the  three 
that  sheltered  the  women  and  children  and  few  men, 
when  King  Philip's  warriors  burned  the  town,  one  hun- 
dred years  before.  George  Pynchon  was  near  by,  on 
the  Goodrich  block  site,  and  Doctor  Charles  Pynchon 
was  on  the  corner  of  Main  street  and  Ferry  lane.  The 
latter's  block  contained  an  apothecary's  store, 
Sweeney's  tailor,  and  other  shops,  and  was  in  the  bus- 
iness center.  On  the  other  corner  was  Zebina  Steb- 
bins'  establishment.  He  was  a  person  of  considerable 
enterprise  and  note,  his  name  often  appearing  in  the 
old  records,  and  is  deserving  of  our  gratitude  for  his 


16  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

share,  in  company  with  Festus  and  Joseph  Stebbins, 
in  the  planting  and  watering  of  the  elms  in  the  cen- 
ter of  North  Main  street.  Nathaniel  Brewer  lived  on 
the  river  bank,  at  the  foot  of  the  lane.  He  was  a 
prominent  man,  and,  as  chairman  of  the  town  com- 
mittee of  correspondence,  gave  Colonel  Worthington 
a  certificate  of  good  character  against  the  charge  of 
toryism.  Continuing  in  the  line  of  this  attenuated 
town  was  the  Hitchcock  house,  (Emery  street),  Jo- 
seph Stebbins,  (Clinton  and  Main),  Moses  and  Captain 
Thomas  Stebbins,  and,  finally,  Major  Joseph  Stebbins' 
new  tavern,  (Carew  street,)  which  had  in  front  of  it 
a  large  round  ball  for  a  sign.  During  the  Revolution, 
a  pay-master  placed  a  large  sum  of  continental  money 
with  the  major,  but  never  returned  to  claim  it,  and  it 
was  kept  untouched  until  worthless  from  deprecia- 
tion. Captain  Thomas  Stebbins  had  just  started  a 
pottery  opposite  his  premises,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
street,  bringing  his  clay  from  Long  Hill. 

Returning  again  to  the  "  Causeway,"  (State  street,) 
we  find  J.  &  J.  Dwight  keeping  store  in  a  smallish  red 
house,  fitted  up  for  the  purpose,  on  the  corner  where 
is  now  the  Savings  Bank  building.  During  the  war 
this  became  the  largest  store  in  this  part  of  the  State. 
One  of  the  "J.s"  is  Jonathan.  He  had  come  to 
Springfield  in  1753,  and  was  emphatically  an  old-time 
gentleman.  Doctor  Albert  Booth  says  of  him  :  "  He 
was  a  great  smoker,  lighting  his  pipe  in  summer  with 
a.  burning-glass,  and  described  by  many  who  remem- 


SPK1NGFIELD   MEMORIES.  17 

ber  him,  as  often  crossing  the  street  in  such  a  cloud 
of  smoke,  as  to  be  nearly  invisible.  He  was  almost 
the  last  representative  of  the  silk-stocking,  short- 
breeches,  and  silver  shoe-buckle  gentry, — rather  scant 
clothing,  the  boys  thought,  who  knew  of  his  practice 
of  going  out  to  fodder  the  cows  before  daylight  or 
breakfast,  cold  winter  mornings,  with  stockings  down 
about  his  heels,  and  rubbing  his  legs  when  he  came 
in,  to  get  up  a  circulation,  as  he  said."  As  the  fash- 
ions changed  to  pantaloons,  there  was  much  discussion 
as  to  whether  they  were  as  durable  as  knee-breeches. 
New  England  always  debates  the  utility  of  things, 
and  knee-breeches  did  not  escape  the  trial.  The 
stockings  were  thick,  and  wore  for  a  long  time,  espe- 
cially the  silk  ones.  It  was  strenuously  maintained 
by  the  older  people  that  pantaloons  were  a  great  deal 
more  costly  than  small-clothes.  Mr.  Dwight  was  a 
slave-holder  to  the  extent  of  one  African,  and  lived 
across  the  way,  where  Whitney  &  Adams  now  are,  in 
one  of  the  very  few  painted  houses  of  the  village. 

At  an  early  day,  a  causeway  of  logs  had  been  built 
across  the  marsh,  now  State  street,  and  was  sustained 
by  toll.  The  road  was  narrow  at  the  causeway,  be- 
came wider  on  the  meadow,  and  was  laid  out  twenty 
rods  wide  on  the  hill.  Passing  the  old  Dwight  home- 
stead, on  the  west  corner  of  State  and  Maple  streets, 
and  seven  or  eight  houses  further  up,  it  ran  through 
the  woods  to  the  "  Bay  Path,"  (corner  of  State  and  Wal- 
nut streets),  where  Joseph  Wait,  of  Brookfield,  had 


18  SPKINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

put  up  a  large  red  sandstone  guide-post,  thirteen  years 
before.  This,  as  now  can  be  seen,  he  did  after  a  nar- 
row escape  from  death  in  taking  the  Skipmuck,  in- 
stead of  the  Boston  road,  during  a  storm.  Armory 
Hill  was  a  pine  plain,  with  an  occasional  patch  of  oak 
undergrowth,  and  nearer  the  "  hasseky  marish,"  back 
of  the  library  building,  stood  a  fine  oak  grove,  with 
sentinel  elms  on  the  outskirts,  among  silver  and  white 
poplars  and  willows.  The  many  and  clear  springs  kept 
the  marsh  from  stagnation,  and  gave  all  the  fertility 
and  warmth,  without  the  miasma  of  the  lowlands. 
Opposite  the  Dwight  store,  (Webber's  corner),  was 
the  house  of  Luke  Bliss,  a  man  of  fine  presence  and 
courtly  manners,  a  representative  at  the  General 
Court,  and  leader  of  the  village  choir.  He  and  his 
brother  owned  most  of  the  land  between  the  present 
Watershops  and  the  Armory.  On  the  corner  of 
Meeting-house  lane  and  Main  street,  was  a  wooden 
store  and  dwelling-house  owned  by  Moses  Bliss,  a 
shoemaker.  The  property  came  into  the  hands  of  the 
Lombard  family  eleven  years  later.  Below  Jonathan 
Dwight's  house  was  a  dwelling,  where  Homer  Foot  & 
Co.  now  are,  which,  in  1800,  became  Bates'  tavern. 
Then  came  the  Collins  homestead,  the  Moses  Bliss 
place,  and  the  "  old  gaol  "  tavern,  partly  on  the  Union 
House  site,  the  log  "  gaol "  being  in  the  rear.  This 
gloomy,  colonial  lock-up  was  furnished  with  heavy 
shackles  and  stocks,  and  clumsy  padlocks.  Below  this 
(north  corner  of  Howard  and  Main  streets),  was  the 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  19 

old  Josiah  D wight  house,  (he  was  the  other  and  the 
older  "J"  in  the  D  wight  firm),  and,  across  the  way, 
(the  D.  A.  Bush  place),  his  distillery,  and  a  building  put 
up  for  a  store.  Scattered  along  on  the  river  side 
were  the  houses  of  Ely,  Warner,  (Mrs.  P.  F.  Wilcox's), 
Jedidiah  Bliss,  father  of  Moses,  (south  of  William 
street),  Joseph  Ferre, — the  man  who  once  said,  prob- 
ably in  town  meeting,  "  John  Worthington  rules  this 
town  with  a  rod  of  iron," — Loring,  Burt,  Caleb  Ferre 
and  Cooley,  (L.  H.  Taylor's),  with  the  Sikesand  Reu- 
ben Bliss  places  on  the  other  side. 

Twenty-five  years  earlier,  there  were  but  seven 
houses  on  State  street  and  four  on  Maple,  and  there 
is  no  evidence  that  it  had  changed  much  before  1776. 
The  elm  on  Elijah  Blake's  place  is  known  to  be  ninety 
years  old,  and  was  planted  after  a  house  had  been 
built  there  by  one  Stebbins.  It  is  not  hazardous  to 
say  that  this  and  a  house  on  each  side,  which  were  as 
old,  were  standing  in  1776,  and  further  up  on  the 
other  side,  were  three  or  four  small  houses  of  about 
the  same  age,  which  will  account  for  the  buildings  on 
the  "  Causeway."  Maple  street,  in  the  early  papers 
called  "  the  road  to  Charles  Brewer's,"  had  been  put 
through  to  the  foot  of  '•  Thompson's  Dingle,"  (now 
the  cemetery).  A  house  of  correction  on  this  road 
was  burned,  one  hundred  years  before.  Of  the  four 
houses  standing  here  in  1776,  were  those  of  Charles 
Brewer,  near  Mr.  Rumrill's  residence,  which  was  a 
large  house,  commanding  a  good  view  of  the  long 


20  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

town  street  that  slept  on  the  river  bank ;  and  two 
small  houses  near  by  (Lombard  Dale's),  occupied  by 
Sol  Ferre  and  his  sisters,  Lizzie  and  Martha.  The 
street  stopped  short  a  little  beyond  Brewer's,  but  was 
continued,  in  a  well-trodden  footpath,  down  to  the 
Dwight  distillery  on  South  Main  street.  The  street 
ran  to  the  wrest  of  the  present  line  and  of  these 
houses  along  the  brow  of  the  hill.  When  the  road 
was  straightened,  the  out-buildings  were  compli- 
mented with  a  position  in  the  front  yard.  Misses  Liz- 
zie and  Martha,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  were 
white-haired  women,  and  were  the  terror  of  the  third 
and  fourth  generation  thereabouts  ;  for,  over  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  the  sweet  flag  and  mint  grew  in  abund- 
ance, and.  waiting  till  the  maids,  who  carefully 
watched  the  place,  were  away,  they  would  gather  the 
flag ;  but  it  often  happened,  to  their  grief,  that  the 
owners  would  put  in  a  sudden  appearance. 

In  1776,  the  population  of  the  village  was  prob- 
ably 1,200. 

It  was  used  during  the  Revolution  as  a  center  of 
supplies,  for  which  the  first  government  buildings 
were  put  up  on  the  Hill,  naturally  giving  the  place 
an  impetus,  though  as  late  as  1791  it  numbered  but 
1,574.  The  town  brook,  by  the  by,  had  its  own 
way  in  those  days.  In  the  first  place,  it  performed 
the  curious  feat  of  splitting  itself  right  in  two,  and 
running  both  north  and  south,  and  then,  in  times 
of  rain,  it  would  try  to  shove  itself  all  down  either 


SPRtNCnELDV/lLAGE 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  23 

the  one  or  the  other  of  these  channels ;  or,  per- 
haps, it  would  fill  up  the  marsh  so  that  a  boat 
could  be  rowed  from  the  Causeway  to  Stebbins'  new 
tavern,  (Carew  street).  But  it  always  had  under  its 
banks  the  finest  trout  to  be  found  for  many  a  mile. 
Even  in  this  century,  lazy  anglers  have  fished  from 
shop  windows,  through  the  grating  of  plank  and  logs 
across  it,  and  with  good  luck.  But  these  were  untu- 
tored times,  and  it  is  now  doing  good  in  the  world  by 
cleaning  sewers.  There  exists,  so  far  as  is  known,  no 
map  of  Springfield  in  1776.  The  accompanying  plan 
of  the  village  locates  the  important  buildings  as  indi- 
cated by  manuscript  and  tradition ;  and,  if  there  be 
added  a  reasonable  number  of  out-buildings,  and  such 
minor  houses  as  must  have  escaped  record,  a  good  idea 
of  old  Springfield  can  be  obtained. 

As  to  dress,  a  century  ago,  there  was  much  color, 
especially  on  the  male  side.  We  have  records  of 
brown  velvet  and  white  jackets,  snuff-colored,  light 
blue  worsted  and  scarlet  coats,  and  buckskin  breeches. 
A  Springfield  slave,  who  lived  a  few  years  later,  is  de- 
scribed as  having  a  blue  coat  with  white  metal  but- 
tons. In  fact,  our  ordinary  country  gentleman  spent 
more  money  in  dress  than  his  lady,  who  could  get  a 
grand  bonnet  for  six  shillings,  while  he  paid  one 
pound  for  his  hat.  Savages  had  already  become  so 
scarce,  that  when  a  company  of  Stockbridge  Indians 
passed  through  Springfield  for  Roxbury,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  they  were  counted  a  curios- 


24  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

ity.  It  was  still  the  day  of  fire-places,  though  one  or 
two  families  may  have  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  the 
new-fangled  box  stove,  weighing  seven  hundred 
pounds,  with  a  fire  under  the  oven,  and  a  boiler-hole 
in  the  oven  bottom.  The  plow  of  one  hundred  years 
ago  was  not  aesthetically  remarkable.  It  is  known  as 
the  "  bull  plow,"  and  was  ordinarily  made  of  wood, 
except  the  wrought  iron  share.  The  standard  was 
vertical,  and  attached  to  it  was  the  sole  piece  and 
beam.  The  clevis  hung  on  the  nose  of  the  beam, 
which  extended  forward,  and  rested  on  a  two-wheeled 
cart  drawn  by  animals.  The  wooden  mould-board 
was  sometimes  plated  with  sheet-iron  or  strips  of 
hammered  horse-shoes. 

Springfield  was  never  blind  to  progressive  ideas. 
There  were  already  in  this  community  of  1,200  souls, 
— hardly  a  tolerable  crowd  for  the  City  Hall, — five 
taverns,  and,  besides,  there  had  been  one  execution 
six  years  before.  The  familiar  picture  of  a  solemn 
New  England  Sabbath,  begun  in  the  morning  by  the 
rooster's  "  crowing  psalm  tunes,"  and  ending  at  sun- 
down, when  the  children  played  blind-man's-buff  in 
the  streets,  and  young  men  drank  flip  at  the  taverns, 
is  as  true  of  Springfield  as  of  Northampton.  The 
dignified  progress  of  the  judiciary,  which  met  alter- 
nately here  and  at  Northampton,  was  enough  to  melt 
the  most  incorrigible  malefactor.  The  judges  ap- 
proached the  Court-house,  preceded  by  the  high  sher- 
iff, bearing  a  long  rod ;  and,  while  the  Court-house 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  25 

bell  rang  out  its  homage,  the  line  of  cocked  hats  and 
long  queues  moved  with  dignity  to  the  bench. 

But  the  troubles  with  England  had  reached  a  crisis, 
and,  in  1776,  men  took  off  the  ruffles  about  their 
wrists  and  sold  them  for  powder,  Springfield  as  heart- 
ily as  all  New  England. 


CHAPTER  II. 

OLD  TIME  BRIC-A-BRAC. 

SPEINGFIELD  village  had  its  crop  of  strong,  noble 
men,  who  could  legislate  or  hold  the  plow,  with  equal 
excellence.  And  perhaps  no  two  of  them  had  more 
of  the  homespun  virtues  and  culture  of  the  age,  and 
less  of  mutual  characteristic,  than  old  John  Worth- 
ington  and  Parson  Howard.  One  was  a  tory  by  na- 
ture, conservative,  courtly  and  stern,  to  the  last  de- 
gree, yet  with  too  much  character  not  to  yield  when 
in  the  wrong,  as  was  shown  by  his  conversion  to  Re- 
publicanism. The  other  was  a  born  liberalist,  san- 
guine, progressive  and  undiplomatic.  He  once  called 
a  dear  friend  and  prominent  citizen  a  liar  in  a  debate 
on  slavery,  and  the  fellow  wasn't  certain  but  the  par- 
son was  right,  and  swallowed  it.  Howard  was  per- 
sonally winning,  and  did  not  have  that  attending  halo 
of  touch-me-not,  that  marked  Colonel  Worthington. 

The  latter  was  never  anybody's  grandfather  to 
speak  of.  Children  held  their  breath  when  he  spoke, 
and  the  irreverent  called  him  "  don."  He  made  he- 
roic efforts  to  impress  his  name  and  character  on  a 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  27 

male  heir;  but  he  merely  contributed  three  little 
tombstones  to  three  infant  "  John  Worthingtons."  It 
was  the  other  side  of  the  house  that  was  to  hand 
down  the  high  breeding  of  his  family.  This  breeding 
took  a  peculiar  form,  sometimes.  He  once  snatched 
a  Butler's  Analogy  from  the  hands  of  a  daughter 
whom  he  caught  reading  and  sweeping  the  room  at 
the  same  time,  and  said :  "  This  is  not  a  book  for  a 
girl  to  read."  To  be  sure,  she  was  only  twenty-four  ! 
He  allowed  no  bed  in  the  house  to  be  made  until  after 
dark  on  Sundays.  Abler  men  than  he  have  lost  the 
use  of  the  hair  on  their  heads,  for  interfering  with 
such  matters.  There  was  a  secret  closet  in  his  house, 
— not  an  uncommon  thing  in  those  days, — but  he  put 
it  to  the  uncommon  use  of  concealing  tories.  It  be- 
came a  noted  retreat  for  refugees,  the  father  of  the 
late  Henry  Sterns  being  among  those  who  have  hid  in 
this  historic  cubby-hole.  While  the  afterward  distin- 
guished Fisher  Ames  was  paying  attention  to  the 
Colonel's  daughter,  Frances,  it  was  his  misfortune 
once  to  be  asked  to  carve  a  turkey.  The  embryo 
congressman  hadn't  the  sangfroid  or  skill  to  place  the 
fork  over  the  breast-bone,  and,  without  removing  it, 
to  uncover  all  from  white  meat  to  bishop's  nose.  He 
squeezed,  and  sliced,  and  twisted  the  bird  into  such 
forbidding  ligaments,  right  before  his  girl's  family, 
that  he  vowed  to  himself  the  "  don  "  would  never 
give  him  a  chance  to  carve  for  a  family  of  his  own. 
In  deep  chagrin  he  posted  to  Boston,  took  carving  les- 


28  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

sons,  and,  on  his  return,  found  a  goose  in  the  platter, 
which  he  served  most  beautifully.  "Mr.  Ames,"  ob- 
served the  "  don,"  "  you  find  a  tough  goose  easier  to 
carve  than  a  tender  turkey."  Ames  won  his  suit. 
When  John  and  Samuel  Adams  passed  through  the 
village  on  their  way  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
Colonel  Worthington  asked  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Adamses, 
where  are  you  going ?"  "To  Philadelphia,  to  declare 
these  colonies  free."  "  Gentlemen,  beware ! "  was 
the  answer.  "  Look  out  for  your  heads !  "  The 
Colonel  was  afterward  glad  enough  to  get  his  own 
head  exposed  in  the  same  way,  and  he  became  a  good 
friend  of  the  colonies. 

Once  Worthington's  barn  was  struck  by  lightning, 
and  Phillis,  a  negro  slave  woman  of  his,  proceeded 
immediately  to  put  on  her  best,  including  a  bright  red 
petticoat.  Mrs.  Worthington  asked  her  in  some  as- 
tonishment what  she  was  going  to  do.  She  replied: 
"  De  barn  am  struck.  I  think  de  day  ob  judgement 
am  about  to  cum,  and  I  want  to  'pears  well's  I  can 
before  de  Lord." 

Rev.  Mr.  Howard  was  as  prominent  in  a  progressive 
way  as  the  Colonel  in  his  conservatism,  and  his  home 
rule  as  rigid.  At  five  in  the  afternoon,  at  all  seasons, 
every  door  in  the  house  was  "  opened  and  swung," 
which  let  in  lots  of  pure  air  and  hard  colds.  When 
coal  was  first  introduced,  he  gave  it  a  trial  before  the 
assembled  family.  It  was  placed  on  the  embers,  and,  as 
it  did  not  burn,  it  was  solemnly  and  once  for  all  pro- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  29 

nounced  stone.  He  and  the  Colonel,  in  1786,  had  a 
characteristic  bout  on  the  subject  of  a  bridge  over 
the  Connecticut.  Howard  remarked,  "  I  believe, 
Colonel  Worthington,  I  shall  live  to  see  a  bridge  across 
the  Connecticut  river."  The  quick  reply  was :  "  Par- 
son Howard,  you  talk  like  a  fool."  When  it  was 
built,  the  road  to  it  passed  through  the  Colonel's  land. 

But  in  a  curiosity  shop,  one  often  enjoys  best  what 
is  of  least  value.  One  of  the  out-of-the-way  stories 
told  of  Moses  Bliss  is,  that  one  day  he  heard  that  a 
deer  was  browsing  in  "  hasseky  marish."  Taking  a 
flint-lock,  he  insinuated  his  knee-breeches  among  the 
bushes,  a  little  back  of  the  present  Market  street, 
where,  sure  enough,  there  was  a  veritable  stag.  As 
cool  as  a  cucumber,  he  took  aim,  and  holloed  "  bang  " 
at  the  top  of  his  voice.  There  was  no  bullet  in  his 
voice,  and,  as  he  forgot  to  shoot,  the  game  escaped. 

Charles  Brewer,  who  lived  on  Maple  street,  not  far 
from  the  dingle,  had  a  huge  pear  tree,  after  his  own 
heart,  on  which  he  did  the  grafting  and  mulching,  and 
sundry  boys  the  harvesting.  One  day,  seeing  the  lit- 
tle thieves  approach,  he  bethought  himself  there  was 
a  hogshead  near  by  where  he  could  hide.  The  idea 
was  too  cute  for  anything,  and  he  agilely  crawled  in. 
The  boys  saw  him  disappear,  and  had  to  stuff  their 
elbows  in  their  mouths  to  keep  from  laughing.  They 
crept  up  to  the  hogshead,  and  set  it  rolling  down  the 
hill.  For  weeks,  Mr.  Brewer  wore  on  his  knees  and 
elbows,  the  biggest  knobs  that  ever  were. 


30  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

The  father  of  Daniel  Lombard,  while  at  work  on 
his  Long-hill  farm,  once  noticed  through  the  corn  a 
skulking  Indian  with  drawn  bow.  He  at  once  cocked 
his  rifle, — then  a  vade-mecum.  Both  watched  a  chance 
to  shoot,  and  neither  dared  uncover.  After  an  ex- 
cited passage  at  this  deadly  game  of  peek-a-boo,  the 
Indian  backed  out  until  he  found  shelter  in  the  forest. 
It  was  a  common  amusement  of  the  friendly  Indi- 
ans, to  take  little  children  off  in  the  morning,  and 
return  them  at  night  to  the  frightened  but  non-resist- 
ant parents. 

A  more  civilized  source  of  annoyance  was  thieving, 
and,  along  about  1830,  in  particular,  the  town  wras 
pestered  with  burglars,  wrho  caused  much  hair  and 
garment  rending,  until  a  party,  under  Elijah  Blake, 
put  a  stop  to  it.  Meeting  back  of  the  Armory,  before 
daylight,  one  Sunday  morning,  they  searched  the 
woods,  Blake  and  Whitefield  Chapin  coming  upon  the 
camp  in  a  dismal  ravine  on,  the  Chicopee  road,  known 
as  "  Hog-pen  Dingle."  Blake  entered  first,  and  found 
but  two  men, — Marcus  R.  Stephenson  and  George 
Ball.  The  latter  fled,  but  the  former,  reaching  for  a 
weapon,  was  throttled  by  Blake.  In  the  struggle  the 
robber's  pistol  fell,  and  Blake  was  hurled  down  a  bank 
with  great  force,  but  he  recovered  himself,  and  pur- 
sued Stephenson  through  the  woods,  till  near  enough 
to  lay  him  flat  with  one  fist  blow.  With  the  aid  of 
Chapin,  he  was  pinioned.  Both  robbers  were  subse- 
quently sentenced  to  state  prison  for  life.  They  had 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  31 

in  their  possession  over  seventy  dollars  in  twenty  and 
ten  cent  pieces,  which  they  had  taken,  the  night  be- 
fore, from  Ely's  store  at  West  Springfield.  Twenty 
cent  pieces  were  then  plenty  in  Massachusetts,  where 
they  passed  for  their  face  value  ;  but  in  Connecticut 
they  had  depreciated  to  a  shilling.  A  search  in  the 
house  of  Stephenson's  father,  corner  of  State  and 
Oak  streets,  at  which  Major  Edward  Ingersoll  was 
present,  revealed  that  most  of  the  stolen  property 
was  buried  in  the  cellar.  After  twelve  years  behind 
the  bars,  Stephenson  was  pardoned  out,  and  at  once 
called  on  his  old  friend  Blake,  and  had  a  good  talk  on 
old  matters. 

During  Shay's  rebellion,  Nathaniel  Burt  was  taken 
prisoner  by  the  West  Springfield  rebels,  Luke  Day 
and  Alpheus  Col  ton.  Subsequently,  when  Colton 
found  himself  in  chains,  and  pretty  near  the  gallows, 
he  wrote  Burt  a  penitent  letter,  never  before  in  print, 
in  which  he  says :  "  I  try  to  bear  up  under  the  heavy 
load  of  mind  that  is  upon  me,  but  wish  to  God  that  I 
might  be  redeemed  therefrom.  In  strict  Justice  I  have 
merited  death  below,  and  Eternal  death  hereafter. 
I  pray  to  be  sav'd  from  the  latter  &  that  the  former 
may  not  take  place  before  I  am  prepared  which  I  am 
not  at  present."  He  was  spared,  and  for  a  very  sin- 
gular fate,  if  tradition  is  to  be  trusted.  It  seems  Burt 
had  been  subject  to  fits,  but  after  being  taken  by  the 
rebels  they  never  came  on  again,  and  tradition  saith 
that  his  captors  had  lots  of  'em  the  rest  of  their  days. 


32  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

The  worst  fit,  though,  was  the  one  the  negro  "Jack" 
had.  He  was  the  husband  of  "  Ginny,"  the  slave 
woman  whose  freedom  was  bought  from  her  master, 
Peter  Van  Geyseling,  a  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  Dutch- 
man, by  several  citizens.  "Jack"  thought  that  at 
his  time  of  life  he  ought  to  be  the  owner  of  a  pair  of 
boots.  He  had  measurements  taken,  but,  when  done, 
he  found  they  were  no  fit  at  all.  He  couldn't  pull 
them  on,  as  he  had  a  trick  of  getting  the  heel  in  front. 
The  maker  he  upbraided  soundly.  "  Gor  a  sakes, 
Massa  Gardner,  you  made  'em  boots  hind  side  afore." 
The  original  subscription  list  which  was  circulated  by 
Daniel  Lombard,  for  "  Ginny's"  freedom,  is  in  the  city 
library.  One  man  refused  to  give  anything,  but, 
finding  that  his  brother  had,  and  that  the  money  was 
about  raised,  repented  and  gave  ten  dollars.  The 
Dutchman  was  so  fearful  that  his  slave  would  escape, 
that  he  slept  in  her  little  hut,  and  a  good  punishment 
he  got  for  it,  too,  if  at  all  up  in  the  finer  feelings. 
After  she  had  come  down  with  the  money  and  was 
handed  her  freedom  papers,  she  got  up  a  jubilee  din- 
ner, and  made  him  eat  as  much  as  ever  he  could. 

Zebina  Stebbins  and  wife,  who  lived  up  on  Ferry 
lane,  (Cypress  street,)  used  to  ride  to  church  o'  Sun- 
days in  a  one-horse  shay.  One  morning,  the  old  peo- 
ple did  not  appear  on  time,  and  the  horse  walked  off 
with  his  empty  shay.  Stopping  religiously,  for  a  mo- 
ment, at  the  church  door,  he  passed  to  the  shed,  where 
he  remained  about  as  long  as  a  Puritan  sermon,  and 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  33 

then  backed  out,  stopped  again  at  the  doors  of  the 
church  and  his  master's  house,  and  returned  to  his 
stable.  In  those  days,  whosoever  was  intelligent 
above  his  fellows,  was  "  as  smart  as  Zebina's  horse," 
and  was  proud  of  it.  When  Mr.  Stebbins  was  over- 
seer of  the  poor,  he  had  half  a  dozen  paupers  who 
were  so  old  and  infirm  that  they  would  probably  die 
at  substantially  the  same  time,  and,  in  order  to  drive 
a  cheap  bargain,  he  proposed  to  buy  their  coffins  all 
together,  and  use  them  for  storage  boxes  until  then ; 
but  somebody  objected,  and  he  abandoned  the  idea. 

In  the  smaller  places,  like  Springfield,  it  was  an 
early  custom  to  have  one  drinking  mug  on  the  table 
for  water,  and  to  pass  it  round.  This  was  approach- 
ing the  family  tooth-brush  nearer  than  the  Knicker- 
bocker account  of  the  lump  of  sugar  pendant  over  the 
center  of  the  table,  where  everybody  with  a  good 
sugar  tooth  could  get  a  convenient  bite.  It  was  a 
royal  source  of  merriment  among  the  young  people  of 
one  of  Springfield's  first  families,  when  the  head  of 
the  family  brought  home  a  second  wife,  and  she  in- 
sisted on  having  a  mug  by  herself.  She  was  a  New 
York  Dutch  bred  lady,  and  could  not  come  down  to 
the  one-mugged  habits  of  the  village.  The  staple 
bread  was  made  of  rye  flour.  Ordinarily,  a  man 
would  buy  a  bushel  or  two  of  wheat,  and  have  it 
ground.  This  was  used  for  pastry,  and  would  gener- 
ally last  through  the  year.  "  Pop-robbin,"  a  sort  of 
milk  porridge,  was  a  great  local  dish ;  and,  at  the  time 


34  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

of  the  Boston  tea  excitement,  people  substituted  it  in 
a  lighter  form,  for  tea.  Mrs.  Doctor  Marble  used  to 
tell  that,  just  after  the  war,  she  was  invited  out  to 
breakfast  (a  better  fashion  than  tea-parties),  when 
she,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  enjoyed  a  cup  of  tea ; 
but  it  didn't  satisfy,  and,  on  going  home,  she  "  filled 
up "  with  hot  porridge.  Certain  women  could  not 
divorce  themselves  from  their  tea,  and  used  to  take  it 
on  the  sly.  On  some,  the  suspicion  of  being  secret 
tea-drinkers  even  loitered  during  the  whole  war.  In 
the  early  part  of  this  century,  coffee  was  a  luxury 
which  few  families  enjoyed  more  than  once  a  week. 
Burnt  rye  was  used  as  a  substitute,,  and  was  a  common 
article  of  sale  as  late  as  1822. 

The  river  was  early  filled  with  salmon,  so  that  in 
seining  for  shad  it  was  necessary  to  also  take  the  sal- 
mon, strange  as  it  may  seem.  At  one  time,  the  shad 
became  a  drug.  A  man  was  pretty  "hard  run  who 
would  eat  shad."  Foolishly  enough,  few  people  would 
admit  that  they  ever  lowered  themselves  to  such 
depths.  Indeed,  they  have  even  been  known  to 
snatch  a  shad  from  the  pan,  if  a  neighbor  dropped  in 
on  them  at  odd  times.  A  little  later,  one  of  the  con- 
ditions in  hiring  a  man  was  that  he  should  eat  shad  so 
many  times  a  week.  Salmon,  at  the  time  of  the  Rev- 
olution, was  called  "  Agawam  pork,"  and  it  was  a  con- 
dition in  buying  shad,  that  a  certain  amount  of  this 
"  Agawam  pork  "  should  be  taken  with  it.  Afterward, 
when  fish  were  more  scarce,  it  was  customary  to  salt 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  35 

down  half  a  barrel  of  shad  and  a  barrel  of  pork, 
every  year. 

William  Ames,  in  reminiscences  he  wrote  thirty 
years  ago,  for  Mrs.  William  W.  Orne,  says  that  Jona- 
than Dwight  told  him  there  was  but  one  clock  in  the 
village  in  1753,  and  that  people  used  to  call  at  Josiah 
Dwight' s  to  see  it,  and  wait  a  long  time  to  hear  it 
strike.  There  were  then  but  two  chaises  in  town, 
horseback  riding  being  the  common  mode  of  travel- 
ing. Springfield  was  a  three  days'  journey  to  Boston, 
until  stages  were  established,  when  the  distance  was 
accomplished  in  one  day,  "  to  the  great  amazement  of 
the  public."  The  aristocratic  snuff-box  had  pene- 
trated numerously  to  the  Connecticut,  and  by  the 
time  this  century  began,  snuff-taking  was  a  very  prev- 
alent evil. 

The  only  piano  in  the  village,  in  1810,  was  owned 
by  David  Ames,  and  James  Dwight  had  one  in  1822, 
and  Mrs.  Rev.  Breck  boasted  of  the  first  carpet.  At 
the  church,  the  leader  of  the  choir  would  start  the 
tune  by  a  preliminary  toot  on  the  square  music-box, 
the  size  of  a  common  hand  Bible,  with  an  aperture  in 
one  corner  for  a  mouth-piece,  and  a  slide  below  to 
regulate  the  key.  Colonel  Solomon  Warriner  was 
leader  for  forty- two  years,  beginning  1801,  barring 
one  break  of  five  years.  He  sat  in  the  gallery,  back 
of  the  congregation.  The  "  second  treble  "  was  on 
his  right,  and  the  tenor  on  his  left ;  the  "  first  treble  " 
were  scattered  all  along  the  north  gallery,  and  the 


36  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

bass  opposite.  Roberts,  a  Hartford  music  teacher, 
consolidated  the  choir,  bringing  them  where  they  are 
now.  The  first  rocking  skates  were  sold  by  Ely,  of 
West  Springfield,  where  the  boys  on  this  side  of  the 
river  went  with  their  spare  change  to  buy  them. 
Doctor  Chauncey  Brewer,  when  young,  was  a  fine 
skater,  and  once,  when  at  Yale  College,  while  darting 
over  the  ice,  he  came  to  a  broad  opening,  and  is  said 
to  have  saved  his  life  by  making  a  thirty  feet  jump. 
In  his  old  age  he  retained  great  vitality,  and  would 
work  in  the  garden  awhile,  then  come  in  and  read  his 
Bible,  do  a  little  more  work,  then  return  to  Bible  and 
pipe. 

Colonel  Thomas  Dwight  once  discovered  a  leak  in 
his  stock  of  butter.  Suspecting  a  certain  gardener, 
he  invited  him  into  the  office,  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances, and  heated  up  the  room  ;  soon  sweat,  then 
butter,  came  running  down  the  fellow's  face,  and  on 
lifting  his  hat,  Mr.  Dwight  found  butter  in  too  large 
quantities  for  hair  oil.  This  story  is  told  in  the 
"  Introduction  to  the  American  Common  School 
Reader  and  Speaker,"  by  William  Russell,  who  may 
have  come  to  Springfield  after  it.  Springfield  is  emi- 
nent for  furnishing  educators,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  college  presidents.  Among  them  are  President 
Burr,  of  Princeton,  father  of  Aaron  Burr,  and  de- 
scended from  Jehu  Burr,  who  owned  the  original  town 
lot  which  the  Worthingtons  bought ;  President  Hoi- 
yoke,  of  Harvard,  grandson  of  Elizur  Holyoke ;  Pres- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES .  37 

ident  Hitchcock,  of  Amherst ;  President  Day,  of  Yale  ; 
President  Colton,  of  Carlisle,  Pa. ;  Dr.  William  Harris, 
President  of  Columbia.  Then  the  Dwights  and  Chaun- 
cies  are  represented  by  the  Yale  and  Harvard  presi- 
dents of  that  name. 

Jonathan  Dwight  once  sharply  told  a  clerk  not  to 
say  "  no  "  bluntly,  when  a  customer  asked  for  some- 
thing not  in  the  store,  but  to  suggest  another  article. 
Shortly  afterward,  a  lady  inquired  for  some  cheese. 
"  No,  marm,  we  haven't  any,  but  we  have  an  excellent 
grindstone."  It  is  said  the  fellow  lived  on  with  the 
impression  that  that  remark  was  too  witty  for  any- 
thing. This  Dwight  store  was  a  great  place  for  all 
the  notables  to  assemble,  and  in  those  large,  green 
painted  arm-chairs,  Judge  Hooker,  Doctor  Frost,  and 
others,  debated  by  the  hour.  It  wras  at  one  of  these 
gatherings,  and  in  a  discussion  on  the  Trinity,  that 
somebody  made  the  statement :  "  No  one  can  make 
me  believe  that  James  and  John  and  Edmund  Dwight 
are  equal  to  the  old  man."  Mr.  Peabody's  church 
was  born  at  these  green  chair  discussions,  and  the  ex- 
citement and  family  jars  that  followed  are  still  re- 
membered. The  accepted  orthodoxy  which  remained 
by  the  common,  dubbed  the  "  N.  S.  E.  W.  "  vane  on 
the  spire  of  the  new  church,  as  standing  for  "  The 
New  Society  of  Edified  Wits." 

There  were  many  queer  looking  things  to  be  seen 
on  the  public  roads  in  early  days ;  for  instance,  on  a 
Sunday  morning,  a  man  on  horseback,  with  his  wife 


38  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

sitting  on  a  cushion  or  pillion  behind  him,  having  one 
arm  about  her  Bible,  and  the  other  about  her  master, 
and  clinging  close  to  both.  This  was  riding  "  pillion," 
and  went  out  of  style  with  leghorn  bonnets.  If  a 
fellow  happened  to  be  riding  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  the  meeting-house,  he  was  very  liable,  especially 
if  he  had  something  handsome  on  pillion,  to  find  a 
tithingman's  long  pole  across  the  road.  One  of  the 
Lombards  was,  one  Sunday,  carrying  a  sick  child  in  a 
shay  to  the  doctor,  when  he  was  stopped,  and  the  in- 
fallible tithingman  deciding  that  religion  was  suffering 
more  than  the  child,  compelled  him  to  turn  back 
toward  home. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FLIP  DAYS  IN  SPKINGFIELD. 

THAT  tippling  was  more  common  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  than  now,  everybody  knows.  There 
was  not  a  dealer  in  the  village  who  did  not  keep  dis- 
tilled spirits,  and  every  hired  man  took  his  constitu- 
tional both  in  the  fore  and  afternoon.  There  are  per- 
sons now  living,  who  have  seen  eleven  hogsheads  of 
liquor  sold  at  the  old  D wight  store,  on  the  corner  of 
State  street,  before  breakfast.  This  was  when  the 
store  had  seven  branch  houses,  in  as  many  surround- 
ing villages.  Not  a  social  gathering  or  gander  party, 
not  a  marriage  feast  of  parson's  or  deacon's  daughter, 
not  even  a  Sunday  in  the  months  with  an  "  r  "  in,  but 
there  was  a  goodly  show  of  wine  or  flip.  When  Rev. 
Mr.  Osgood  was  settled,  in  1809,  he  had  an  ordination 
ball.  If  there  was  "  no  flip  nor  nothing,"  then  it  was 
the  exception.  There  is  no  doubting  the  fact,  with 
all  our  sins  and  high  living,  we  are  a  more  temperate 
people  than  we  used  to  be,  and  our  visions  of  the  good 
old  times  might  not  be  so  enchanting,  if  they  had  the 
historical  number  of  rum  casks  in  them.  Rev.  Mr. 
Ballintine,  of  Westfield,  gives  in  his  diary  the  articles 


40  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

sent  in  for  his  daughter's  wedding  feast.  In  the  list 
are  half  a  dozen  gallons  of  rum,  and  as  many  of 
brandy.  Among  the  other  articles  is  mentioned  flour, 
suet,  butter,  two  pigs,  a  "loyn  of  mutton,"  veal, 
fowls,  cranberries,  apples,  cabbages,  potatoes,  etc.,  etc. 
He  adds  that  a  "  half  Johannes  "  was  given  him  as  a 
fee,  and  he  gave  it  to  the  bride.  Rev.  Stephen  Wil- 
liams, of  Longmeadow,  in  referring  to  his  ordination 
feast,  says  he  is  afraid  they  were  merrier  than  they 
ought  to  have  been. 

It  was  customary  for  the  parishioner,  when  the 
minister  called,  to  set  out  a  bottle  of  rum,  and  noth- 
ing less  than  this,  except  among  the  poor.  It  is 
told  of  an  up-river  minister,  that  he  was  once  highly 
incensed,  because  one  brother  on  whom  he  called,  of- 
fered him  a  mug  of  cider,  instead  of  the  rum  bottle. 
It  was  accepted  as  an  insult,  and  was  doubtless  in- 
tended for  one.  Before  1825.  habits  of  drinking  were 
accompanied  with  very  free  social  customs.  Much 
formality  there  was,  to  be  sure,  but,  among  the  young 
folks,  impromptu  parties  were  frequent.  A  couple  of 
young  men  would  propose  a  ride  to  Chicopee,  to  get 
flip.  In  twenty  minutes  the  horses  would  be  hitched, 
and,  stopping  a  moment  for  the  girls,  who  would 
appear  at  once, — no  pull-backs  in  their  programme 
or  their  dress, — off  they  would  go  for  the  Chico- 
pee tavern.  All  this  is  a  lost  art,  and,  now-a-days, 
the  average  "  feller,"  in  arranging  a  ride  with  a 
girl,  allows  three  days  to  get  her  invited,  and  has 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  41 

to  wear  a  red  ribbon  in  his  button-hole,  into  the 
bargain. 

Flip  drinking  was  not  confined  to  a  few.  The 
children  and  all,  would  warm  their  noses  after  church 
with  it,  and  everybody  knows  it  is  made  of  much 
beer,  little  rum  and  sugar,  and  some  hot  poker.  Most 
families  had  a  "  brewin  "  each  week,  and  flip  irons  were 
"  amazin'  plenty."  Drunkenness  in  Jefferson's  and 
Monroe's  time,  was  common.  In  1829,  the  best 
French  brandy  was  three  dollars  a  gallon,  and  rum 
fifty  cents.  The  standard  of  temperance  was  lower, 
and  he  who  would  have  then  been  called  a  moderate 
drinker,  would  now  be  in  danger  of  padlocks  and 
things.  In  1825,  temperance  societies  were  first 
formed,  and  the  elder  and  more  moral  names  of  Spring- 
field were  quoted  against  the  movement,  just  as  they 
were  when  the  young  folks  wanted  to  warm  the 
meeting-house.  But  when  they  found  it  wasn't  a  sin 
to  hear  the  word  of  God  with  warm  ears,  and  that 
moral  force  is  better  for  the  drinking  community  than 
police  force,  both  religion  and  temperance  went  up. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SPEINGFIELD  TRADE  HALF  A  CENTURY  AGO. 

MODERN  Springfield  was  born  with  the  peace  of  the 
war  of  1812.  In  the  re-action  from  embargoes  and 
war,  from  1814  to  1825,  there  wras  a  general  house- 
cleaning  and  business  re-adjustment.  The  old  tavern 
site  was  cleared  off  for  a  Common,  a  church  and 
court-house  built  by  the  side  of  it,  and  another  church 
(Unitarian),  down  Main  street,  Union  and  Court  streets 
were  opened,  the  river  bridge,  that  had  been  swept 
away  by  a  flood,  was  restored  (1818),  a  line  of  boats 
was  established  between  the  village  and  Hartford, 
connecting  with  Boston  and  New  York  schooners, 
neighboring  water-powers  were  utilized,  many  me- 
chanics and  artisans  were  called  in,  who  became  resi- 
dents, and  the  Weekly  Springfield  Republican  was 
started,  which  insured  the  place  a  future.  In  num- 
bers, Springfield  was  slow  of  growth,  until  the  open- 
ing of  the  new  "  Bay  Path "  of  rail  and  steam  in 
1839,  when  it  put  011  a  spurt,  and,  in  1852,  took  out 
a  license  to  sport  mayors  and  debts.  The  larger  in- 
fluence of  Northampton  had  forced  away  Springfield's 
share  in  the  county  court  sessions,  and  such  business 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  43 

all  came  to  be  done  up  the  river.  For,  although  the 
Pynchons,  Blisses,  Brewers,  Dwights,  and  Chapins, 
were  favorably  known,  they  did  not  have  the  wide 
reputation  of  the  Northampton  Edwardses,  Dwights, 
Strongs,  Pomeroys,  and  Clarks ;  so  that  a  friendly 
break  in  the  family  of  the  River  Gods  was  inevitable, 
and,  in  1812,  Springfield  became  the  "  capital  "  of  the 
bran  new  county  of  Hampden.  So  progressive  was 
the  spirit  of  the  place,  that  the  year  previous  a  meet- 
ing was  held  in  Doctor  Osgood's  meeting-house,  in 
favor  of  foreign  missions.  Many  pronounced  it  a 
"  dangerous  and  hopeless  enterprise." 

As  far  back  as  1810,  the  approaching  clash  of  the 
old  and  new  was  suggested,  when  it  was  proposed  to 
put  stone  bridges  over  the  town  brook,  in  place  of 
wooden  ones.  A  monstrous  extravagance !  "  The 
Worthingtons  and  Brewers  had  crossed  on  wood,  and 
were  we  better  than  they  ?  "  The  Zulu  heathen  says 
the  same  thing  to  the  missionary  who  advocates  an 
upright  door  to  his  hut.  "  My  father  and  grandfather 
have  crawled  on  their  knees  through  that  hole,  and 
so  can  I."  The  argument,  however,  did  not  carry 
Springfield. 

The  best  exponent  of  the  local  thrift  of  that  time, 
is  found  in  the  D wight  store  on  the  corner  of  State 
and  Main  streets.  Beginning  before  the  Revolution, 
when  the  business  center  was  a  mile  or  more  away,  it 
grew  to  be  not  only  the  'change  of  the  town,  but  the 
largest  Massachusetts  importing  house  out  of  Boston, 


44  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

even  rivaling  many  houses  in  the  capital.  Josiah 
Dwight  started  it,  and  it  was  continued  under  the 
firm  names  of  J.  &  J.  Dwight,  J.  Dwight  &  Son,  and 
J.  &  E.  Dwight.  The  most  business  was  done  from 
after  the  war  until  1822,  when  James  Dwight,  the 
greatest  merchant  of  them  all,  died.  From  this  time, 
the  changes  of  the  firm  were  as  follows:  —  Day, 
Brewer  &  Dwight  (Benjamin  Day,  J.  Brewer,  J.  S. 
Dwight),  Dwight,  Brewer  &  Dwight  (J.  S.  Dwight, 
J.  Brewer,  Henry  Dwight),  J.  S.  Dwight,  then  Homer 
Foot  &  Co.,  1831,  (now  corner  State  and  Main  streets,) 
the  latter  being  the  legitimate  successors  of  that  fa- 
mous mercantile  house.  It  was  the  policy  of  the 
house,  as  fast  as  its  clerks  learned  the  business,  to 
start  branch  stores  in  the  neighboring  towns.  Of 
these  there  were  seven, — one  at  Westfield,  North- 
ampton, Greenfield,  South  Hadley — at  the  canal, — 
Belchertown,  Thompsonville  and  Chester.  The  one 
at  Westfield  was  under  the  charge  of  Robert  Whit- 
ney; at  Northampton,  under  J.  D.  Whitney;  and 
located  at  Greenfield,  South  Hadley,  Thompsonville, 
Chester,  were  Lyman  Kendall,  Josiah  Bardwell,  James 
Brewer  and  William  Wade  respectively.  All  the 
goods,  passing  through  the  Springfield  head-quarters, 
made  that  an  important  exchange  place.  Venerable 
men  now  living,  tell  about  seeing  a  wall  of  woolen 
goods  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  high,  disappear  in  one 
day,  and  a  little  matter  of  eleven  hogsheads  of  liquor 
vanish  before  breakfast,  some  of  it  not  going  to  out- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  45 

of-town  parties,  either.  The  old  firm  of  J.  &  J. 
D wight  had  potash  and  pearlash  works  at  Wilbraham, 
and  a  distillery  opposite  Josiah's  house  on  South  Main 
street,  where  cattle  were  kept  to  eat  the  grain,  and 
where  people  in  all  the  region  round,  went  for  "  empt- 
ins  "  you  know,  so  that  their  rye  bread  might  be  the 
best, — simply  this  and  nothing  more. 

Pretty  much  everything  was  kept  at  these  early 
country  stores, — Turks  island  salt,  steel  knitting-pins, 
Jamaica  spirits,  hum-hums,  jeans  and  fustians,  bake- 
pans,  plane-irons,  japanned  waiters  and  mugs,  pig- tail 
tobacco,  cherry  rum,  etc.  The  Ely  store  at  West 
Springfield  made  it  a  point  to  please  the  women  in 
getting  the  divinest  fashions,  and  it  was  next  to  im- 
possible to  keep  them  from  taking  a  constitutional 
walk  over  the  bridge,  and  doing  some  trading.  Many 
fine  cattle  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  were 
driven  from  Chicopee  to  the  Boston  market.  On  the 
pine  plain  the  farmers  made  their  own  clothing,  which 
was  of  stout  woolen  and  tow  cloth. 

The  Dwight  house  and  its  branches,  did  much  to 
develop  the  Chicopee  water-power.  In  1823,  the 
.Boston  and  Springfield  Manufacturing  Company  was 
incorporated,  with  a  capital  of  $500,000,  and  Jona- 
than Dwight,  Jr.,  as  president.  From  1805  to  1822, 
Benjamin  Belcher  ran  a  furnace,  at  first  from  ore  dug 
near  by.  Andirons  and  kettles  were  his  specialty. 
In  1822,  Chauncey  Brewer  and  Joshua  Frost,  of 
Springfield,  bought  a  paper  mill  at  Chicopee  Falls, 


46  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

and,  five  years  later,  it  came  into  David  Ames'  hands. 
Ames  had  another  mill  on  Mill  river,  and  the  road 
over  Crescent  Hill  was  opened  to  get  at  it  more  con- 
veniently. 

The  Dwights  ran  a  four-horse  team  to  Boston,  the 
year  round,  to  do  the  smaller  freighting.  Teamster 
Bliss,  who  lived  at  the  Ten-mile  brook,  presided  over 
this  four-in-hand,  and,  when  the  Dwight  boys  went 
down  to  Harvard  College,  he  took  a  turn  by  Cam- 
bridge, so  as  to  leave  their  bedding  for  them. 

The  most  prominent  in  this  merchant  line  was  James 
S.  Dwight.  Inheriting  from  his  father  his  "good 
aspect  and  appearance,"  but  more  radical  and  daring 
in  his  modes,  he  became  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  the  State,  and  was  locally  known  as  the  "  poor 
man's  friend."  It  happened  that  he  had  many  mar- 
riages in  his  kitchen,  and  the  servants  were  about  as 
well  fitted  out  as  his  own  children.  His  father,  Jona- 
than, seemed  to  lack  the  crowning  dash  which  is  a 
part  of  genius,  and,  during  the  Revolution,  through 
currency  depreciation  and  his  unpopular  political 
views,  he  closed  up  his  business,  but  afterward  re- 
opened. Again,  during  the  embargo,  evil  days  closed 
in,  but  his  shrewd,  and  withal  daring  son  James,  pro- 
posed that  the  father  should  stay  at  home,  smoke 
his  pipe,  and  let  him  take  the  helm.  This  suggestion 
was  followed.  He  bought  heavily,  sold  quickly  at  low 
prices,  and  came  out  of  the  venture  a  wealthy  man. 
James  Dwight  was  forever  doing  astonishing  things, 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  47 

and  always  winning  in  the  end.  He  once  came  back 
from  New  York  with  six  mortal  barrels  of  wheat  flour. 
Father  Jonathan  embraced  his  paste  knee-buckles  in 
horror,  clerks  thought  he  was  mad,  and,  next  Sun- 
day, people  who  had  often  sung  : 

"  AH  ray  bones  are  made  of  Indian  corn," 

with  considerable  rye  porridge  mixed  in,  talked  the 
matter  over  after  sermon.  "  Master  Jim,"  however, 
took  it  coolly.  He  said  :  "  I  will  take  a  barrel,  father 
one,  John  and  Colonel  D  wight  each  one,  and  John 
Hooker  another." 

This  large  inland  depot  of  trade  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  line  of  coasters  between  Hartford  and 
Boston,  where  most  of  their  business  was  done,  little 
of  importance  being  brought  from  New  York.  This 
line  was  established  immediately  after  the  war  of  1812, 
and  was  owned  by  Hartford  parties,  as  well  as  the 
D  wights.  There  were  half  a  dozen  of  these  Old  line 
schooners,  and  the  captains  were  considerable  men  in 
their  day.  There  was  Ebenezer  Flower,  a  man  of 
wealth,  and  afterward  mayor  of  Hartford.  Then 
there  were  the  locally  well-known  Captains  Stew- 
art, Webber,  Chalker,  Henry  Churchill  and  Wanton 
Ransom,  of  Portland,  Goodspeed,  of  Cape  Cod,  and 
Warren  Pease,  of  Hartford.  Thomas  K.  Brace,  of 
Hartford,  was  the  agent.  This  coasting  line  brought 
goods  around  the  cape  to  Hartford,  for  all  the  up-river 
towns,  the  rest  of  the  way  flat-boats  with  sails  being 
used.  This  principal  river  line  was  owned  by  John 


48  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

Cooley  &  Co.  Among  the  owners  were  the  Dwights, 
Benjamin  Day,  and  Roderick  Ashley,  now  living  on 
West  State  street.  Parker,  Douglas  &  Co.,  started  an 
opposition,  but  were  not  very  successful.  A  line  be- 
tween Northampton  and  Hartford,  was  owned  by 
Whiting  Street,  of  Holyoke,  Hiram  Smith,  Daniel 
Strong,  of  Northampton,  and  others.  Samuel  Nutt 
ran  another  from  White  river,  and  it  ordinarily  took 
a  fortnight  to  make  the  round  trip.  When  the  wind 
was  contrary,  the  loaded  scows  had  to  be  either  poled 
or  rowed  all  the  way  up  from  Hartford,  and  in  order 
to  get  the  best  wind,  three  trips  a  week  were  often 
made.  If  they  unloaded  at  Springfield  in  the  after- 
noon, and  returned  to  Hartford  during  the  night,  they 
could  come  up,  the  next  afternoon,  with  a  tide-water 
breeze  which  would  kindly  follow  them  to  the  landing 
at  the  foot  of  Elin  street.  When  Ashley  began  boat- 
ing in  1820,  there  were  ten  of  these  boats,  carrying 
twelve  to  fifteen  tons,  and  worked  by  four  men  each, 
with  long  oars  and  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  poles,  and  one 
sail.  Liquor  was  a  large  item  of  freight ;  often  a 
boat  would  have  nothing  else.  The  boatmen  had  the 
privilege  of  drawing  freely  for  their  use,  and  it  is 
related  that  several  took  all  they  wanted,  and  would 
have  taken  more,  if  they  had  not  died  with  the  delir- 
ium tremens. 

About  1830,  a  new  opposition  line  was  started, 
owned  and  captained  by  Cape  Cod  men,  Charles  H. 
Northam,  of  Hartford,  being  the  agent.  A  New  York 


SPRINGFIELD  MEMORIES.  49 

packet  line  to  Hartford,  about  the  age  of  the  Old  line, 
with  the  others,  made  the  old  Connecticut  of  consid- 
erable commercial  importance,  in  those  days.  It  was 
not  an  uncommon  thing  to  see  twenty-five  flat-bottom 
boats  start  up  the  river  from  Hartford,  of  a  morning, 
destined  for  points  as  far  up  as  White  river.  The 
captains  usually  let  their  freight  bills  go  until  winter, 
when  they  would  take  a  turn  among  the  valley  towns 
to  "  settle  up."  The  journey  of  the  good  old  sea 
captains  into  the  interior,  was  a  royal  sight  which, 
alas !  lives  only  in  memory,  and  that,  too,  of  short 
life,  unless  some  of  these  local  artists  follow  Ruskin 
closer,  and  paint  the  olden  time  for  history's  and 
taste's  sake,  instead  of  putting,  as  they  everlastingly 
do,  bright  continental  clothes  on  Washington's  stereo- 
typed form,  and  mounting  him  on  a  horse  which,  if 
Jove,  in  the  interest  of  true  art  should  set  a-running, 
would  find  his  legs  so  bunglingly  hung,  that  they 
would  bump  against  every  tree  within  a  five  feet  ra- 
dius. We  suggest  for  an  art  study  this  very  subject : 
The  Winter  Arrival  of  the  Sea  Captains.  They  had 
freight  bills  as  good  as  gold  in  their  pockets,  and  rum 
in  the  casks,  and  sea  songs  and  stories  in  the  rum, 
when  taken  in  proper  quantities.  As  the  D wights 
were  the  largest  importers  in  the  valley,  their  red 
store  on  the  corner  would  make  the  best  scene  for 
such  a  painting.  It  was  a  common  thing  to  see  twelve 
or  more  of  these  captains  with  buckskin  faces,  show- 
ing their  bills  to  "  Master  Jim,"  or  lifting  their 

7 


50  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

"  nor'westers "  to  Father  Jonathan  in  small-clothes. 
And  a  painting  of  it,  before  the  old  folks  who  remem- 
ber it  die  off,  might  be  made  historically  true  and  val- 
uable, and  is  surely  worth  an  artist's  while. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  OLD  MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION. 

A  HANDFUL  of  mechanics  met  at  the  "  house  of  Jer- 
emy Warriner,"  January  12,  1824,  and  organized  the 
Hampden  Mechanics'  Association.  It  had  a  vigorous 
growth,  founded  a  library  and  apprentice  school,  ran 
lyceum  courses,  increased  intelligence  in  the  work- 
shops, and,  when  the  Young  Men's  Institute  and 
changing  times  destroyed  its  usefulness,  had  the  grace 
to  die  in  1849,  age  twenty-five  years. 

It  was  in  its  nature  exclusive,  as  none  but  those 
who  had  served  a  full  term  of  apprenticeship,  were 
eligible  to  its  membership.  An  apprentice  was  taken 
right  into  the  family  of  his  master,  and  the  nature  of 
this  apprenticeship  may  be  understood  from  this  sen- 
tence, in  one  of  the  annual  addresses :  "  Apprentices 
are  too  apt  to  think  their  accountability  to  masters 
goes  no  farther  than  the  workshop  or  working  hours. 
This  is  a  fatal  error.  A  disregard  of  a  master's  coun- 
sels and  admonitions,  has  led  many  apprentices  to 
degradation  and  ruin.  They  should  always  be  ready, 
when  inquired  of,  to  give  an  honest  and  frank  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  spend  their  leisure 


52  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

time."  Meetings  were  held,  four  times  a  year,  the 
January  gathering  usually  accompanied  with  an  ad- 
dress, dinner,  and  toast-drinking,  at  some  tavern 
where  the  new  officers  were  inaugurated.  The  first 
president  was  Elijah  Blake,  and  the  first  secretary  A. 
G.  Tannatt.  Mr.  Blake  was  regularly  re-elected  un- 
til 1830,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Stearns ; 
the  elder  Samuel  Bowles  followed  him  in  1835,  Itha- 
mar  Goodman  in  1837,  John  B.  Kirkham  in  1839, 
Joel  Miller  in  1841,  Philo  Willcox  in  1842,  David 
Smith  in  1844,  and,  on  the  adoption  of  the  new  con- 
stitution, that  year,  Elijah  Blake  again.  The  associa- 
tion had  now  outlived  its  usefulness.  Charles  Stearns 
was  made  president  in  1845,  but  after  May,  1846, 
there  is  no  record  of  meetings  until  1849,  when  the 
property  was  sold. 

A  feature  of  the  proceedings  of  the  association  was 
the  succession  of  addresses  by  its  own  members.  A. 
G.  Tannatt  gave  the  first  in  January,  1828,  in  the 
"  library  room,"  after  which  they  proceeded  "  to  the 
hall  of  Colonel  Ebenezer  Russell,  (the  present  county 
house),  and  partook  of  an  excellent  supper.  After 
which  some  excellent  toasts  and  songs  were  drank  and 
sung."  At  the  next  annual  meeting,  Samuel  Bowles 
furnished  the  address,  and  the  Hampden  coffee-house 
(present  Hampden  House),  things  for  the  inner  man. 
In  January,  1830,  Simon  Sanborn  gave  an  address, 
and  in  July,  Samuel  Bowles,  the  latter  on  "  Printing." 
The  following  January,  Charles  Stearns  at  the  "  Parish 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  53 

House,"  lectured  before  a  "  large  public  audience." 
In  April  of  the  same  year,  (1831),  the  first  meeting 
in  Masonic  Hall  was  entertained  by  A.  G.  Tannatt 
again.  Henry  Adams  lectured,  the  same  year,  on 
"  Chemistry  as  Connected  with  the  Metals,"  and  J.  B. 
Eldredge  on  "Mechanic  Arts;"  in  1832,  Bidkar 
Jones,  on  "  Operative  Masonry ; "  in  1833,  Edwin 
Booth,  on  "Electricity,"  and  Charles  Merriam  on 
"  The  Practical  Parts  of  Chemistry  and  Philosophy, 
and  Usefulness  of  Heat;"  in  1834,  J.  B.  Eldredge; 
in  1835,  William  B.  Kendall,  on  the  "  Duties  of  Me- 
chanics," and  Joel  C.  Miller  on  "  Duties  of  Masters  to 
their  Apprentices;"  in  1836,  Elijah  Bates;  in  1838, 
Lewis  Briggs,  William  B.  Calhoun,  Rev.  William  Rice 
on  "Memory;"  in  1839,  Charles  Stearns;  and  in 
1841,  Rufus  Elmer.  They  finally  fell  to  asking  out- 
siders to  address  them,  which,  of  course,  was  inde- 
pendent of  the  lyceum  courses  they  had  instituted. 

The  first  year  of  the  organization,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  books  were  given  them  for  a  library,  and 
also  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Illinois, 
the  latter  by  Charles  C.  Nichols,  of  Boston,  for  a 
building.  In  1828,  thanks  were  given  to  Doctor 
Osgood,  and  others,  for  donations  of  books.  Eight 
years  later,  the  New  Jerusalem  church  at  Boston, 
gave  a  generous  book  donation.  In  1838,  is  this  rec- 
ord :  "  Mr.  J.  B.  Kirkham  laid  before  the  association 
a  bill  of  thirty  dollars  received  by  him  from  the  pub- 
lishers of  the  life  and  writings  of  Washington,  by 


54  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

Jared  Sparks,  requesting  him  to  receive  the  work. 
Whereupon  it  was  moved  and  voted  that  the  associa- 
tion are  under  no  obligations  to  receive  the  books  or 
pay  the  bill."  The  funds  of  the  association  were 
never  alarmingly  huge, — just  enough  to  support  a' 
small  library  and  a  hall,  and  annual  dinner  for  the 
members.  The  association  had  a  good  many  moving 
days.  It  met  at  Jeremy  Warriner's  house,  the  fol- 
lowing year  in  the  Blake  building,  in  1831  in  Masonic 
Hall,  and  in  1836,  in  Mechanics'  Hall.  When  the  de- 
cline began  in  1844,  monthly  meetings  were  attempted 
at  private  houses,  and  this  "  boarding  around  "  was  its 
ruin. 

The  apprentice  boys,  who  were  bound  to  the  differ- 
ent members  of  the  association  as  masters,  were  care- 
fully looked  after ;  for  from  these,  mostly,  was  the 
organization  to  be  increased.  For  them  a  library  was 
founded,  and  a  weekly  night  school.  Mr.  Bowles 
stated  in  a  report,  that  this  school  had  started  under 
the  charge  of  Mr.  Nichols,  and  he  was  "  to  be  assisted 
by  Mr.  Eaton,  of  the  female  seminary."  Each  schol- 
ar furnished  his  own  "  lamp,  books,  stationery,  etc.," 
and  paid  one  dollar  per  quarter.  The  school  started 
with  thirty,  but  was  short-lived.  To  encourage  tem- 
perance, a  ten  dollar  gold  medal  was  voted  in  1830  to 
every  apprentice  serving  his  full  term  without  drink- 
ing strong  liquors.  Captain  Charles  McClallan,  of 
Chicopee,  was  the  first  to  take  the  medal,  and  it  was 
formally  given  him  at  a  special  meeting  at  Elijah 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  55 

Blake's  house.  But,  two  years  later,  with  thirty- two 
promising  gold-medal  candidates,  the  affrighted  and 
poverty-stricken  association  voted  to  throw  the  cost 
of  the  medals  on  the  masters,  the  association  to  sim- 
ply put  on  its  seal.  It  was  contrary  to  the  by-laws 
for  one  member  to  employ  the  apprentice  of  another, 
if  he  had  •  run  away  or  broken  his  pledge  with  his 
master.  In  October,  1829,  Seth  Flagg,  according  to 
the  record,  was  expelled  for  employing  the  apprentice 
of  Henry  Adams,  after  a  trial  and  heated  discussion, 
the  vote  being  seventeen  to  four. 

The  only  existing  and  visible  sign  of  this  early  in- 
stitution, is  the  old  oaken  chair  of  dignity,  in  which 
the  president  sat.  It  is  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  the 
late  John  C.  Stebbins,  471  Central  street.  In  April, 
1832,  Charles  Stearns,  A.  G.  Tannatt  and  Horace  Lee, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  make  two  chairs  out 
of  the  timber  of  the  old  Pynchon  house,  which  had 
been  recently  torn  down.  These  were  made  alike, 
and  are  fine  specimens  of  their  mechanical  taste  and 
skill.  The  pattern  is  the  then  fashionable  "fiddle- 
back  "  chair,  with  eagle's  legs  grasping  spheres  for 
supports.  There  may  be  better  hand-carving  done, 
now-a-days,  but,  taking  this  as  a  specimen  of  a  com- 
mon country  workshop,  it  might  serve  as  a  text  and 
sermon  on  how  to  get  the  best  skilled  labor.  It  was 
then  customary  for  a  sixteen-year-old  boy  to  bind 
himself  out  till  he  was  twenty-one,  for  board  and 
clothes.  Now  it  is  a  three  months'  putter  at  the 


56  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

bench,  then  a  journeyman's  wages  or  an  independent 
shingle.  One  of  these  chairs  was  presented  to  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester.  Chris- 
topher Columbus  Baldwin,  the  librarian,  sent  graceful 
acknowledgments  "for  so  acceptable  a  memorial  of 
the  respect  and  veneration  in  which  you  hold  the 
memory  of  the  worshipful  Major  Pynchon,  and  for  so 
fine  a  specimen  of  the  mechanical  taste  and  ingenuity 
of  your  valuable  association." 

The  lyceum  courses,  managed  by  the  association, 
were  quite  an  institution  in  those  days,  but  hardly 
cleared  expenses.  The  report  for  twenty  lectures, 
during  the  winter  of  1843-4,  shows  $253  received, 
on  which  they  enjoyed  a  profit  of  thirty-one  dollars. 
One  of  the  items  of  expense  was  five  dollars  for  hav- 
ing three  hundred  and  ninety-two  tickets  printed. 
The  monthly  meetings  at  the  different  houses,  wThich 
were  applied  as  a  reviver  for  the  invalid  association, 
were  only  gastronomically  successful,  as  this  report  of 
one  at  Samuel  Bowies',  February  5,  1845,  will  show: 
"  In  consequence  of  the  weather  being  very  unpropi- 
tious,  it  having  snowed  all  day,  and  the  sidewalks 
being  covered  with  something  like  eight  or  ten  inches 
of  snow,  but  few  had  the  moral  courage  or  physical 
force  to  venture  abroad  in  the  evening;  but,  after 
partaking  of  the  good  things  provided,  hot  coffee, 
sweetmeats,  etc.,  no  one  regretted  the  visit."  Those 
present  were :  Elijah  Blake,  Henry  Adams,  John 
Avery,  Samuel  Bowles,  Joel  Kendall,  John  B.  Kirk- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 


57 


ham,  John  C.  Stebbins,  Franklin  Taylor  and  Ithamar 
Goodman.  In  the  fall  following,  October,  1845,  the 
library  of  the  association  was  placed  under  the  care 
of  the  Young  Men's  Institute,  with  the  understanding 
that  all  members  of  the  Mechanics'  Association  could 
have  a  life  privilege  to  draw  books  free  of  charge. 
This  little  collection  of  seven  hundred  books  was  the 
nucleus  of  the  present  city  library,  and  the  ten  sur- 
viving members  do  not  have  to  pay  one  dollar  for 
their  cards. 

The  constitution  re-printed  in  1832,  contains  the 
following  list  of  members : 


Elijah  Blake, 
Charles  Stearns, 
George  W.  Callender, 
A.  G.  Tannatt, 
Bidkar  Jones, 
Simon  Sanborn, 
Luther  Bliss, 
John  Avery, 
Edwin  Pitkin, 
Ithamar  Goodman, 
Philip  Willcox, 
Francis  Elliott, 
Moses  Howe, 
Eldad  Goodman, 
Otis  Chapin, 
Alva  Whitmarsh, 

8 


James  Carpenter, 
John  B.  Kirkham, 
Edwin  Booth, 
Simon  Smith, 
John  Kilbon, 
Daniel  Reynolds, 
Joel  Miller, 
Levi  Flagg, 
Gideon  Gardner, 
Philo  F.  Willcox, 
Lewis  Gorham, 
William  W.  Wildman, 
Chauncy  Chapin, 
Ralph  Bliss, 
Francis  Colton, 
Jonathan  Wright, 


58  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

Franklin  Taylor,  Rufus  Sikes, 

Isaac  Stevens,  Samuel  B.  Hodget, 

Elam  Stockbridge,  David  Smith, 

Sylvester  Clark,  John  B.  Eldredge, 

George  Gardner,  Henry  Booth, 

Henry  Adams,  Lewis  Bliss, 

Carlo  Smith,  Martin  D.  Graves, 

Harvey  Sanderson,  Franklin  Clarke, 

Horace  Lee,  Ocran  Dickinson, 

Samuel  Bowles,  Lewis  Scott, 

Charles  M'Clallan,  Henry  Sargeant, 

S.  D.  Sturges,  Charles  Merriam. 
Chauncy  Shepard, 

But  the  work  of  the  Mechanics'  Association  was 
done,  and  the  new  monthly  meetings  and  changing  of 
its  name  to  "  The  Mechanics'  Association  and  Public 
Lyceum,"  were  but  a  meddling  with  dry  bones.  Af- 
ter two  or  three  years,  during  which  no  meetings  were 
held,  the  twenty-four  surviving  members  were  called 
together  for  the  last  time,  August  24, 1849,  to  dispose 
of  the  property  and  divide  the  cash  proceeds.  They 
made  speeches,  revived  old  mechanic  memories,  and 
received,  after  an  auction  sale  of  furniture,  each  an 
endowment  of  one  dollar  and  thirty-three  cents. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MIGEATION  OF  THE  FKOGS. 

THE  old  dingle  (cemetery),  used  to  be  a  great 
stamping  ground  for  the  boys.  It  was  well  wooded ; 
a  stream  ran  through  it,  and  the  mud  was  abundant 
enough, — and  so  were  the  frogs. 

The  little  boys  of  creation  agree  that  the  author  of 
"  My  Summer  in  a  Garden,"  is  right  about  the  virtues 
of  dirt,  especially  that  dirt  which  is  near  a  stream  of 
water.  Springfield  boys  knew  all  about  this  years 
ago,  and  it  was  daily  carried  home  and  brushed  from 
little  breeches,  by  silver  tongued  mothers. 

To  the  society  of  boys  the  frogs  never  objected, 
except  when  they  asked  for  their  hind  legs.  Such  an 
offence  to  frogdom  is  even  bearable.  The  loss  of  an 
occasional  leg  is  a  small  matter  ;  indeed,  an  attention 
flattering  to  frogs  in  general,  and  to  be  sung  about  of 
a  moonlight  evening  in  the  pool.  It's  a  fastidious 
frog  that  will  refuse  his  legs  for  an  hour's  service  un- 
der the  knife,  and  an  immortality  in  song. 

Frogs  have  their  tastes,  though.  There  is  a  con- 
vincing positiveness  about  a  boy  with  a  fish-hook  and 
bait.  But  tombstones,  still,  white,  unexplained  tomb- 


60  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

stones,  that  was  a  different  matter  in  the  minds  of  the 
frogs  of  thirty  years  ago.  So  when  the  commercial 
railroaders  decreed  that  the  old  historic  burying- 
ground  must  retreat  from  the  river  bank  to  make 
room  for  the  cars,  thus  turning  one  of  the  finest  nat- 
ural boulevards  in  New  England  into  a  hot-bed  for 
young  criminals,  the  frogs  in  their  homestead,  which 
they  had  occupied  long  before  the  scalp-twisters 
burned  the  old  house  of  correction,  in  the  woods  near 
by,  took  hasty  council  and  started,  all  of  them,  on  a 
direct  leap  for  Goose  pond.  This  is  a  sober  fact,  at- 
tested by  the  late  James  W.  Crook,  who,  going  home 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  found  a  portion  of 
Walnut  street  literally  covered  with  migratory  bull- 
frogs. He  could  not  step  without  lengthening  the 
mortality  list  of  the  frog  army,  and  it  looked  as  though 
there  was  a  gathering  for  a  second  battle  of  the  frogs 
and  mice. 

They  took  an  unerring  line,  and  on  investigation  it 
was  afterward  found  that  Goose  pond  was  uncomfort- 
ably full  of  frogs,  an  unusual  sight  for  those  waters, 
and  every  frog  a-singing  a  song,  which,  being  inter- 
preted, is : 

Adieu  to  the  dingle, 

To  memory  fond, 

We  are  forced  to  mingle 

Our  bones  with  Goose  pond ; 

while  down  at  the  dingle  it  was  a  deserted  mud  village 
indeed ;  not  a  frog  to  be  seen,  only  their  foot-prints, — 
sad  reminders  of  a  ruthless  fate  which  forced  this 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  61 

happy  and  established  community  out  into  the  harsh 
world. 

The  richly  gowned  philosopher  demonstrates  how 
the  march  of  civilization  and  tombstones  has  been 
necessarily  hard  on  the  poor  Indian  and  the  frog ;  and 
who  with  a  heart  can  learn  the  ruthless  treatment  of 
this  village  of  Springfield  bull-frogs,  doomed  to  the 
poorer  reservation  of  Goose  pond,  and  withhold  a 
sympathizing  and  tributary  tear  ? 


CHAPTER  VII. 

COURT  SQUARE  AND  THE  ELMS. 

TIME  out  of  mind,  the  ground  in  front  of  the  meet- 
ing-house had  been  a  tavern  site,  plentifully  shedded 
and  barn-yarded,  and,  back  of  the  tavern,  sufficiently 
marshy,  though  dry  enough  in  spots  to  allow  room 
for  trials  of  muscle.  Many  a  well-oated  filly  or  pillion 
horse  has  stood  over  his  time  in  the  stable,  while  a 
wrestling  match  was  in  progress  on  'lection  day,  in 
April,  or  as  an  accessory  to  an  out-of-town  gander 
party. 

As  has  been  before  said,  the  spirit  born  of  the  war  of 
1812,  led  to  the  opening  of  a  Common.  Church  and 
business  sentiment  grew  into  a  strong  opposition  to 
the  monopoly  of  so  fine  a  site  for  a  tavern.  The  new 
meeting-house  was  finished  in  1819,  and  as  the  sheds 
which  extended  back  to  the  church,  and  right  in  front, 
were  a  growing  nuisance,  it  was  proposed  to  buy  that 
property,  and  lay  out  a  Common.  An  influential  ele- 
ment favored  a  site  for  the  proposed  Court-house  and 
Common  near  the  then  new  Unitarian  church,  down 
Main  street.  Wiser  councils  prevailed,  and  promi- 
nent citizens  clubbed  together  to  buy  the  tavern  and 


SPRINGFIELD  MEMORIES.  63 

adjoining  property,  and  after  giving  enough  for  a 
Common  to  the  county,  to  cut  up  the  rest  for  build- 
ing lots,  and  thus  save  what  they  could.  The  tavern 
was  then  owned  by  Erastus  Chapin.  Next  to  it,  un- 
der the  shade  of  the  northern  of  the  two  large  elms, 
was  the  house  of  Zenas  Parsons,  who  had  recently 
died.  Parsons  had  sold  to  Eleazer  Williams,  an  ideal, 
dignified,  scrupulously-dressed  inn-keeper,  who  mixed 
a  toddy  with  the  dignity  of  a  lord  chancellor.  He 
sold  to  John  Burnett,  and  he  to  Chapin.  Williams 
was  often  provokingly  slow  in  preparing  drinks, 
especially  if  his  dexterously  combed  hair  was  in  the 
least  displaced,  and  was  known  to  have  stopped  to 
brush  his  hair  and  arrange  the  ruffles  in  his  bosom 
and  wristlets,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  waiting 
customer.  A  wag  once  ordered  a  toddy  of  him,  and, 
starting  for  the  door,  said :  "  I  am  going  to  Hartford, 
and  hope  you  will  have  it  mixed  by  the  time  I  get 
back." 

The  property  bought  by  the  citizens  included,  be- 
sides the  tavern  and  Parsons  house,  the  Moses  Church 
lot,  which  extended  to  the  river.  Among  the  buyers 
were : 

Edward  Pynchon,  Dea.  Daniel  Bontecou,  each 
$800;  John  Hooker,  $700;  David  Ames,  $600;  El- 
eazer Williams,  $400  ;  Israel  E.  Trask,  $300 ;  Elijah 
Blake,  $250 ;  James  Wells,  Solomon  Warriner,  Alex- 
ander Bliss,  each  $200 ;  Daniel  C.  Brewer,  $150 ; 
Justice  Willard,  Thomas  Dickman,  John  Ingersoll, 


64  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

Samuel  Osgood,  Japhet  Chapin,  Dr.  John  Stone,  Mo- 
ses Howe,  Thomas  Sargent,  Eli^ha  Curtis,  Ebenezer 
Russell,  Charles  Stearns,  Simon  Sanborn,  Joseph  Ca- 
rew,  each  $100  ;  Henry  Brewer,  Sylvester  Clark,  Eli- 
sha  Edwards,  F.  A.  Packard,  John  Hooker,  Jr.,  Joseph 
Pease,  Pliny  Chapin,  each  $50;  Quartus  Chapin, 
Lewis  Ferre,  Jr.,  each  $25. 

The  following  persons  gave  their  money  uncondi- 
tionally, and  therefore  received  no  returns  from  the 
enterprise : 

Dr.  Joshua  Frost,  $250 ;  Jonas  Coolidge,  Daniel 
Lombard,  each  $100;  Ebenezer  Tucker,  $75;  Jacob 
Bliss,  Oliver  B.  Morris,  each  $30  ;  Edward  Bliss,  A. 
G.  Tannatt,  Francis  Bliss,  Robert  W.  Bowhill,  Roswell 
Lombard,  James  Chapin,  Roger  Adams,  George  Blake, 
each  $20. 

Of  the  active  promoters  of  this  project  were  Dea- 
con Bontecou,  Charles  Stearns  and  Elijah  Blake.  The 
land  for  the  Common  and  Court-house  was  reserved, 
and  Court  street  opened  to  Water  street,  which  then 
extended  only  a  part  of  the  way  to  Bridge  street. 
Court  street  was  the  first  one  opened  for  the  purpose 
of  multiplying  building  lots.  Union  street  was  the 
next,  and  was  born  on  Sunday  evening,  in  1825,  in 
the  parlor  of  John  Howard,  where  he  and  Charles 
Stearns  planned  its  location.  Ithamar  Goodman  and 
George  Gardner  bought  the  old  tavern,  and  a  portion 
of  it,  corner  of  Court  and  Water  streets,  was  recently 
resurrected  for  centennial  purposes.  The  old  Court- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  65 

house  was  sold  to  the  First  Parish,  and  used  sometimes 
for  a  Town  hall,  a  school,  and  for  parish  purposes, 
and  is  known  as  the  "  Parish  house."  Another  part  of 
the  tavern  stood  for  many  years  on  Water  street, 
where  Palmer  and  Ashley  afterward  had  a  coal  yard, 
and  was  removed  thence  to  Union  street  for  an  Irish 
tenement.  The  Parsons  house  was  bought  by  Joseph 
Winship,  serving  him  as  a  bakery  on  the  east  side  of 
Main  street,  and  was  afterward  owned  by  Lewis  Fos- 
ter. The  Parsons  and  Church  heirs  were  scattered, 
and  the  arrangement  was  made  with  Mr.  Chapin,  by 
giving  him  the  lot  on  which  he  built,  in  1821,  the 
Hampden  House,  and  $3,000  in  money.  The  new 
Court-house  was  erected  the  same  year,  Captain  Isaac 
Damon,  of  Northampton,  being  the  contractor,  and 
Charles  Stearns  furnishing  the  materials.  A  dividend 
of  fifty-five  per  cent,  was  paid  to  those  who  had  sub- 
scribed conditionally. 

In  connection  with  the  old  tavern,  is  remembered 
the  time  when  a  couple  of  Springfield  boys  slept  to- 
gether in  the  attic,  on  a  bed  made  on  the  floor,  as 
their  twelve  dollars  per  month  wages  would  not  allow 
better  accommodations.  They  drove  ox  carts  from 
the  middle  landing  (foot  of  Elm  street),  where  the 
flat-boats  with  sails,  delivered  merchandise  to  the  va- 
rious stores,  and  their  names  were  Willis  Phelps  and 
Chester  W.  Chapin. 

About  a  Common  that  came  into  being  so  commer- 
cially, and  was  wrapped  in  such  speculating  swaddling 


66  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

clothes,  there  can  be  little  of  romance  or  mystery. 
The  only  suggestion  of  it  is  in  the  two  large  elms, 
the  number  of  whose  days  is  unknown.  The  north- 
erly one  is  over  ninety  years  old,  and  the  other  is  old 
enough  to  be  its  mother.  The  average  age  of  the 
rest  is  about  sixty,  the  one  in  the  south-west  corner 
being  planted  by  Elijah  Blake,  transplanted  from  the 
marsh  (Market  street),  in  1820.  Its  birthday  ought 
to  be  marked  by  a  plate,  so  as  to  be  a  gauge  as  to 
the  other  trees.  Edward  A.  Morris,  Samuel  Rey- 
nolds, George  W.  Callender,  Frank  Brewer  and  D. 
A.  Adams,  also  aided  in  setting  out  and  protecting 
the  elms. 

The  city  fathers  do  not  allow  seats  under  the  elms, 
and  there  is  little  chance  for  midnight  summer  dream 
scenes  as  of  old.  Captain  James  Byers,  of  the  Armory, 
offered  to  put  in  a  fountain  on  the  Common,  if  some- 
body would  furnish  the  water  supply.  This  was 
done  by  subscription,  and  the  water  was  brought  from 
Spring  street.  The  Captain  selected  his  marble  in 
Italy,  and  took  much  pains  to  see  that  it  was  prop- 
erly set  up.  As  soon  as  this  fountain  of  Southern 
marble  was  taught  to  play  in  a  Puritan  twilight,  that 
marvelous  agglutination  of  all  the  "  boss  "  wit,  wis- 
dom and  wickedness  of  the  age,  the  little  street 
gamin,  put  in  a  nightly  appearance.  One  noisy  night 
came  a  sudden  silence  and  a  scattering.  The  next 
morning  the  marble  was  found  to  be  broken,  and 
disorderly  bubbles  purling  over  the  "remains."  Old 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  67 

people  remember  the  wrath  of  Byers  on  discovering 
the  mutilation.  Meeting  an  editor,  he  related  the 
outrage.  The  editor  remarked  that  "  boys  who  would 
do  that  are  nincompoops." 

"Nincompoops,  Mr. ?  Have  you  no  harsher 

term  than  that?  You  yourself  should  be  punished 
for  your  lack  of  spirit,  sir !  " 

The  editor  lost  the  momentary  respect  of  his  friend 
and  the  Common  a  fountain,  as  it  was  soon  after  re- 
moved. 

The  Common  has  witnessed  a  good  many  exciting 
scenes.  The  two  elms  have  held  up  above  the  crowd 
the  effigies  of  Thompson,  the  abolitionist,  and  Bush 
the  murderer,  and  seen  families  separated  in  anti- 
Masonic  times,  and  knows  how  a  young  man,  (the 
historian  Bancroft),  a  candidate  before  the  anti-Ma- 
sonic convention,  in  session  at  Jeremy  Warriner's 
tavern,  couldn't  wait,  and,  impelled  by  the  town  ex- 
citement and  a  touch  of  self-interest,  took  the  nomi- 
nations from  the  key-hole. 

The  Common  isn't  much  of  a  talker,  though  it 
is  thankful  for  being  raised  out  of  a  mud-hole,  and 
would  like  a  few  seats  to  offer  a  friend  when  he  comes 
a  visiting. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EAKLY  SIGHTS  AND  SCENES. 

A  LITTLE  six-year-old  daughter  of  Vermonters, 
bound  for  the  Centennial,  trudging  down  the  aisle  of 
a  New  London  Northern  Railroad  car,  stopped  before 
an  elderly  and  well-dressed  lady  and  said  :  "  How 
nice  you  smell."  The  lady  with  the  scented  hand- 
kerchief blushed  at  so  sudden  an  advertisement  of  it, 
and  the  girl,  encouraged  by  the  smiles  of  her  parents 
and  others,  entered  into  bold  and  rude  talk  to  the 
odoriferous  stranger.  One  hundred  years  ago  the 
older  people  did  the  talking  and  children  blushed. 
At  present  it  is  just  the  other  way.  We  are  tempted 
into  a  parody  of  the  passage  in  the  play  : — 

Who  rules  the  country  ?  The  people. 
Who  rules  the  people  ?  The  children. 
Who  rules  the  children  ?  The  devil. 

This  is  getting  the  devil  into  trouble,  and  it  is  his 
due  to  say  that  he  is  often  polite,  which  is  seldom 
true  of  the  children  of  this  ill-bred  generation. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  aged  as  they  walked 
our  Springfield  streets,  meeting  a  crowd  of  school- 
children, would  be  honored  by  a  short  courtesy  from 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  6 

all  the  girls,  while  the  boys  would  take  off  their  hats. 
Even  a  person  passing  in  a  shay  was  courtesied  and 
bowed  to.  Children  "  did  their  manners,"  as  it  was 
termed,  as  soon  as  they  arrived  home,  and  also  on 
entering  and  leaving  the  school-room.  No  child 
was  allowed  to  answer  back  when  spoken  to,  and  in 
some  cases,  by  a  mystery  of  training  which  is  lost, 
babies  were  instructed,  like  Susanna  Wesley's  nine- 
teen children,  not  to  cry  after  they  had  arrived  at 
the  maturity  of  one  year.  It  was  an  early  custom 
in  the  prominent  families  of  such  country  places  as 
Springfield,  for  all  the  family,  wife,  children  and 
guests  to  rise  and  stand  when  the  father  and  husband 
entered  the  room.  This  is  told  of  the  Jonathan 
Edwards  household  at  Northampton,  and  it  probably 
originated  in  the  minister's  family  from  the  great 
respect  paid  to  the  profession.  Of  a  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, after  the  good  men  and  families  were  assembled 
in  their  respective  highbacks,  the  minister,  arriving 
in  a  black  gown,  would  lead  his  family  up  the  aisle, 
and  at  the  first  notice  of  his  appearing  the  whole  con- 
gregation would  rise.  When  he  had  seated  his  fam- 
ily and  mounted  his  pulpit  throne,  the  people  would 
sit  amid  the  creaking  of  boots  and  thumping  of 
warming  pans,  when  the  weather  was  cold,  with 
perhaps  a  rap  of  the  pole  of  the  tithing-man  who 
stood  in  the  rear  and  presided  over  the  boys  collected 
together,  apart  from  their  families.  This  public  re- 
spect paid  the  minister  was  continued  in  his  family, 


70  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

and  probably  thus  passed  into  other  families  of  note. 
Obedience  among  children  was  pushed  to  a  doubtful 
extreme.  It  was  practiced  with  a  vengeance  at 
home ;  reduced  to  rules,  and  printed  in  with  the  West- 
minster catechism,  recited  at  school,  and  preached  in 
the  pulpit.  The  older  people  of  this  city  think,  from 
what  they  remember  their  parents  to  have  said,  that 
the  distance  between  father  and  child  was  too  great. 
In  some  families  they  were  not  allowed  at  the  table 
until  ten  years  old,  though  this  was  not  probably  a 
general  custom. 

Child  life  was  not  particularly  enviable.  School 
kept  every  day  but  Saturday  afternoon,  which  was 
occupied  with  preparations  for  Sunday,  baking  beans 
and  making  "  auld  claes  look  amaist  as  weel's  th'  new." 
The  only  school  holiday,  75  years  ago,  was  the  day 
of  the  April  elections.  The  common  English  branch- 
es and  the  Westminster  catechism  were  principally 
taught,  the  qualifications  of  the  "master"  being  a 
knack  to  continue  in  the  school-room  the  discipline 
of  the  kitchen,  and  being  a  good  mender  of  quill 
pens.  Rev.  Mr.  Howard  used  to  visit  the  schools, 
Saturday  mornings,  the  time  set  apart  for  the  cate- 
chism, and  would  hear  the  little  ones  "  recite  sancti- 
fication,  justification  and  election,"  and  would  have 
in  turn  a  word  or  two  on  the  evils  of  insubordination. 
His  set  speech  about  amusements  was :  "  Boys,  play, 
but  always  play  fair ; "  and  what  better  ?  The  illus- 
trations in  their  school-books  were  aimed  more  at 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  71 

religion  than  aesthetics.  One  edition  of  the  catechism 
has  a  wood-cut  of  the  Martyr  Rogers  with  the  flames 
well  advanced.  Among  the  religious  rhymes  are : — 

In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all. 
Thy  life  to  mend 
This  book  attend. 
Young  Obadias, 
David  and  Josias, 
All  were  pious. 
Xerxes  the  Great  did  die, 
And  so  must  you  and  I. 

The  latter  couplet  is  prefaced  with  a  picture  of  a 
coffin.  If  there  was  left  any  young  incorrigible, 
there  was  added  for  his  benefit  a  rhythmic  dialogue 
with  Christ,  Youth,  Death  and  the  Devil  as  dramatis 
personce.  Christ  asks : — 

"  Wilt  thou,  0  youth,  make  such  a  choice  ? 
And  thus  obey  the  devil's  voice  ?  " 

Youth  answers  : — 

"  Thy  ways,  0  Christ,  are  not  for  me, 
They  with  my  age  do  not  agree. 
If  I  unto  thy  laws  should  cleave, 
No  more  good  days  then  should  I  have," 

Christ  insists,  and  youth  continues : — 

"  Don't  trouble  me,  I  must  fulfill 
My  fleshly  mind,  and  have  my  will." 


72  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

Christ  pronounces  this  doom  : — 

"  Unto  thyself,  then,  I'll  thee  leave, 
That  Satan  may  thee  wholly  have." 

Youth  gets  frightened  and  concludes  to  turn,  when 
the  devil  enters  : — 

"  Nay,  foolish  youth,  don't  change  thy  mind, 
Unto  such  things  be  not  inclined. 
Come,  cheer  thy  heart,  rouse  up,  he  glad, 
There  is  no  hell ;  why  art  thou  sad  ? 
Eat,  drink,  he  merry  with  thy  friend; 
For  when  thou  diest  that's  thy  last  end." 

Youth  is  incredulous,  and  the  devil  continues : — 

"  Thou  mayst  be  drunk  and  swear  and  curse, 
And  sinners  like  thee  ne'er  the  worse. 
At  any  time  thou  mayst  repent. 
'Twill  serve  when  all  thy  days  are  spent." 

Christ  thinks  him  a  vain  youth  and  says  : — 
"  Oh,  don't  reject  my  precious  call." 

Youth  is  in  a  "  woeful  case,"  and  the  sentence 
comes : — 

"  Thy  day  is  past,  begone  from  me, 
Thou  who  didst  love  iniquity." 

Youth  repents ;  Christ  refuses  him  any  longer  to 
live,  and  death,  entering,  makes  it  pretty  hot  for  the 
youth.  His  fix  has  undoubtedly  been  the  turning 
point  in  the  life  of  any  number  of  little  boys.  An 
aged  and  intelligent  citizen  says  he  remembers  that 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  73 

the  zealous  teacher  often  prayed  and  exhorted  when 
she  should  have  been  hearing  their  lessons.  She 
would  talk  to  the  scholars  about  the  devil,  who,  she 
said,  went  round  from  house  to  house  with  a  red-hot 
pitchfork  to  carry  off  naughty  children ;  that  death 
stabbed  with  a  dart  or  spear,  and  that  hell  was  a  place 
where  the  wicked  were  burned  in  "  fire  and  brim- 
stone." The  Westminster  catechism  must  have  gone 
"  like  hot  cakes  "  after  such  lectures,  and  the  school 
visitor,  Saturday  morning,  would  have  a  good  word 
to  say  about  the  "  likely  children."  The  first  thing 
every  morning,  was  Bible  reading,  each  scholar  old 
enough  reading  a  verse.  It  occasionally  happened 
that  some  disturbance  would  compel  the  suspending 
of  the  Bible  exercises.  After  the  rod  was  put  away 
again,  the  reading  would  be  resumed.  The  teaching 
was  largely  arbitrary, — without  explanation  and 
profitless  in  most  cases. 

The  superstitions  of  New  England  are  as  remarka- 
ble, considering  its  modes  of  enlightenment,  as  its 
noble  deeds,  and  much  of  it,  like  witchcraft,  is  traced 
to  our  ignorant  puttering  with  the  Bible.  The  deli- 
cious pictures  drawn  by  local  "  school-marms  "  surely 
did  not  check  it.  Among  the  superstitions  of  Spring- 
field is  remembered  the  belief  that  a  consumptive 
would  find  relief  by  the  burning  of  the  remains  of  a 
relation  who  died  of  the  same  disease.  In  1814  the 
remains  of  a  woman,  named  Butterfield,  were  dug  up 

from  the  old  cemetery.     It  was  four  in  the  afternoon 
10 


74  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

and,  school  being  out,  all  the  boys  were  present.  It 
was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Lane  (Elm  street)  and 
the  vitals  were  carried  down  to  the  river  bank  and 
burned.  Galen  Ames,  of  this  city,  was  one  of  the 
school  boys  who  saw  the  smoke  from  this  altar  of  su- 
perstition rise  from  the  river  bank.  William  Ames, 
of  Dedham,  who  also  visited  the  place  and  saw  the 
ashes,  makes  the  bon-mot  that  the  "  relative  died." 
The  ashes  were  not  applied  to  the  person  ;  but  there 
was  another  local  superstition  that  did  go  to  the 
ghostly  length  of  personal  application.  It  was  be- 
lieved that  "  white  swellings  "  in  the  knee  could  be 
cured  by  passing  the  hand  of  a  dead  man  over  the 
affected  part,  and  it  was  often  tried  here  and  in  other 
towns.  Ministers  universally  discountenanced  such 
"  idiotisrns ;  "  but  in  communities  where  a  settled  faith 
in  veritable  ghosts  and  walking  devils  w^ith  pitchforks 
existed,  belief  in  the  virtue  of  grave  medicines  and 
tombstone  tonics  lingered  the  longest.  Old  Spring- 
field was  not  alone  in  her  ignorance,  and  superstition 
did  not  die  with  her. 

Early  New  England  was  nothing  if  not  noble  and 
sensitive  to  large  inspirations,  but  she  was  also  the 
fruitful  mother  of  pale  spirits  and  semi-Bible  ghost 
demons,  whose  trade  was  to  lurk  in  the  dark  and 
scare  people.  Nowhere  in  the  enlightened  world  have 
ghost  stories  been  related  so  historically  and  believed 
so  implicitly  as  in  New  England.  Even  in  sensible 
Springfield  a  desirable  piece  of  real-estate,  not  far 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  75 

from  Mill  river,  lost  its  market  value  for  years  and 
years,  because  it  was  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  the 
ghost  of  a  murdered  man.  People  also  used  to  be 
great  believers  in  signs.  Our  historians  might  be 
tempted  to  strike  out  a  glowing  adjective  or  two 
from  their  description  of  the  God-fearing  Pilgrims,  if 
they  knew  the  number  of  days'  works  postponed  be- 
cause a  Puritan  broke  a  looking-glass,  or  entered  a 
room  with  a  left  foot,  or  forgot  to  pare  his  nails  o' 
Friday.  There  never  was  a  people  of  more  pro- 
nounced extremes, — acting  nobly  and  religiously, 
yet  acting  by  the  moon . 

The  stories  which  were  once  told  by  the  tavern 
fire  are  now  pretty  much  lost.  An  occasional  spark, 
however,  is  found  among  the  ashes.  Col.  John 
Worthington  and  Judge  Hooker  used  to  travel  to 
Boston  in  company,  and,  while  there,  roomed  to- 
gether. They  say  that  once  the  judge  noticed  that 
his  dignified  companion,  who  was  familiarly  known 
as  the  "  don,"  was  in  distress.  He  had  unfortunately 
made  a  mistake  in  packing  his  linen  at  Springfield, 
and  was  vainly  endeavoring  to  find  the  inside  of  a 
chemise  defemme.  Mr.  Hooker's  face  saddened  ;  for 
the  melancholy  part  was  that  the  blessed  man  did 
not  see  the  mistake,  and  wondered  what  there  was 
about  Boston  that  would  shrink  a  man's  shirt  so. 
Judge  Hooker  did  a  little  shopping,  that  morning, 
before  breakfast,  for  his  friend,  the  "  don.'' 

Among  the   early  customs  that  hung  on  into  the 


76  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

century  was  that  of  posting  public  notices  of  inten- 
tion of  marriage  for  three  weeks.  In  Springfield  the 
public  place  was  the  church  vestibule.  The  notices 
were  deposited  for  three  Sundays  in  a  mahogany  box, 
covered  with  a  wire  screen,  from  which  it  was  dubbed 
the  "  squirrel-box,"  and  after  sermon  time  it  was 
often  heard  :  "  Let's  see  who's  in  the  squirrel-box, 
this  morning."  It  is  a  pity  for  ministers  who  value 
their  sleep  that  the  long  wedding  sermon  and  squir- 
rel-box have  become  lost  arts  ;  for  it  takes  a  deal  of 
patience  to  marry  a  couple  religiously  at  midnight 
without  any  notice,  as  they  often  do  nowadays. 

The  anecdotes  concerning  Rev.  Mr.  Osgood  of  the 
First  Parish  are  numerous  and  about  evenly  divided 
as  to  authenticity.  The  predestination  story  told  of 
Dr.  Osgood  and  Rev.  Mr.  Howard,  which  has  been  the 
round  of  the  papers,  was  incorrect  in  name  and  in- 
cident. Dr.  Osgood  had  nothing  to  do  with  it  at  all. 
Mr.  Howard,  Mr.  Osgood's  predecessor  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Storrs  of  Longmeadow,  grandfather  of  Richard  Salter 
Storrs  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  had  arranged  to  exchange, 
and  they  met  on  the  road,  Sunday  morning.  They 
fell  into  a  theological  discussion,  Mr.  Storrs  saying, 
"  It  is  God's  decree,  that  you  should  preach  for  me, 
this  morning."  Howard  answered  :  "  Then  I'll  break 
the  decree.  I'll  turn  back."  To  which  Storrs  replied  : 
"  Don't  be  a  fool.  If  you  turn  back,  it  will  be  God's 
decree  that  you  be  a  fool."  It  is  on  this  Longmeadow 
road  (near  the  present  papier-mache  works)  that  the 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  77 

ravine  of  Magawisca  is  situated.  This  "  slender, 
flexible  and  graceful "  daughter  of  the  Pequot  Mono- 
natto  is  known  to  novel  readers,  who  have  admired 
her  in  Hope  Leslie,  with  her  waistcoat  of  deer-skin  and 
her  purple  mantle,  leaving  free  her  bare  and  weather- 
brown  arms.  Few  in  this  city  are  familiar  with  this 
spot,  and  it  is  well  worth  a  visit. 

There  are,  however,  some  authentic  stories  about 
Dr.  Osgood.  He  was  a  man  of  large  hospitality, 
entertaining  much  company,  and  was  a  generous  lover 
of  his  kind,  bluff  and  outspoken.  He  was  one  of 
Springfield's  early  abolitionists.  At  the  time  of  the 
fugitive  slave  law  excitement,  his  house  was  one  of 
the  stations  of  the  "  under-ground  railroad  "  between 
the  South  and  Canada,  and  large  numbers  were  shel- 
tered there.  During  one  year  alone  over  50  escaped 
slaves  were  concealed  in  it.  He  would  give  them 
letters  of  introduction  to  friends  at  the  next  station, — 
Greenfield  or  Charlemont, — and  even  furnish  them 
money  from  his  own  pocket  or  raise  it  among 
abolition  friends.  Some  preferred  to  take  the  risk  of 
settling  and  became  citizens,  and  among  them  Dea. 
J.  N.  Howard,  our  South  church  sexton.  After  he 
had  been  here  some  time  he  was  forced  to  sell  his 
property  at  a  nominal  value  and  flee  to  Canada  to 
keep  his  liberty,  and  the  stories  he  tells  during  these 
fearful  years  of  his  life  are  of  the  real  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  sort.  One  of  the  fugitive  negroes  who  remain- 
ed here  went  into  a  hotel  as  a  waiter.  He  was  a  short 


78  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

fellow,  and  had  been  known  in  the  family  of  his 
master  at  the  South  as  the  "  Little  Doctor."  One  day, 
a  stranger  whom  he  was  serving,  said  :  "  Some  more 
steak,  Little  Doctor."  The  poor  fellow  thought  his 
time  had  come,  but  Dr.  Osgood  advised  him  not  to 
flee,  and  he  was  never  molested. 

Many  remember  Mr.  Osgood's  misfortune  in  the 
pulpit.  He  once  knocked  at  a  horn-bug  and  hit  the 
lamp,  which  fell  to  the  floor.  He  coolly  waited  until 
it  was  picked  up,  and  returning  it  unbroken,  said  : 
"  Good  glass  !  Let  us  pray."  While  preaching  in  the 
"  Parish  house  "  he  suddenly  asked,  "  Who's  asleep?  " 
It  was  suggested  that  the  noise  was  not  snoring,  but 
came  from  the  ducks  in  the  basement.  Again  he 
stopped, "  Some  one  is  asleep."  Profound  silence  and 
continuance  of  the  sermon.  A  third  time  he  stopped ; 
"  Will  somebody  rouse  that  young  man  in  the  gal- 
lery ?  "  The  young  man  was  roused,  and  proved  to 
be  his  own  son,  who,  like  Byron,  woke  to  find  himself 
famous.  Another  of  his  pulpit  sayings  was,  "  Will  the 
brother  in  the  gallery  with  the  squeaking  boots  sit  ?  " 
When  the  old  Universalist  church  on  State  street 
was  being  built,  the  doctor  accosted  Governor  Trask 
with,  "  Well,  Brother  Trask,  what  are  you  building 
here  ?  "  Mr.  Trask  replied,  "  A  house  where  the  truth 
will  be  preached."  "  If  it  is,"  was  the  repartee,  "  there 
will  be  a  scattering  among  the  Universalists."  One 
of  the  quickest  replies  is  that  given  to  Mr.  Bacon : 
"  Why  is  it,  Mr.  Osgood,"  he  asked,  "  that  they  call 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  79 

the  head  of  a  hog  a  minister's  face  ?  "  The  doctor  did 
not  relish  the  slur  on  his  profession,  and  said,  "  I  don't 
know;  perhaps  for  the  same  reason  they  call  the 
other  end  the  bacon." 

One  of  the  primitive  convulsions  which  Springfield 
experienced  was  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Bush  of  West- 
field  by  her  drunken  husband.  He  took  a  fatal  dose 
of  opium  in  the  Springfield  jail,  November  13,  1827, 
the  night  before  the  day  of  execution.  As  there  was 
no  omnipresent  daily  press  to  herald  the  news,  a 
chance  was  given  for  a  practical  joke.  A  self-consti- 
tuted committee  of  three,  with  powers  to  send  for 
persons  and  deceive  them,  visited  Daniel  Lombard's 
barn  (Elm  street)  to  get  a  ladder.  While  this  coun- 
try postmaster, — who  is  remembered  as  wearing  a 
queue  but  no  small-clothes,  and  having  a  round,  red 
face,  white  eye-brows,  small  piercing  eyes, — was 
asleep,  they  obtained  his  ladder  and  manufactured  an 
effigy.  The  pants  of  that  effigy  were  seen  on  the 
streets,  the  day  previous,  covering  a  very  respectable 
pair  of  legs.  The  "  committee," — one  of  whom  is 
now  a  New  York  merchant,  another  an  elder  in  Dr. 
Adams'  church,  Madison  square,  New  York,  and  the 
third  a  prominent  personage  who  pays  his  taxes  at 
Springfield, — pronounced  their  work  a  capital  dupli- 
cate of  the  murderer,  and  it  was  suspended  on  the 
limbs  of  the  northern  of  the  two  large  elms  on  the 
Common.  As  this  "  standing  committee  "  from  their 
retreat  watched  the  curious  country  who  came  in  to 


80  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

"  the  hanging,"  two  remarks  were  invariably  made. 
"  Too  late  for  the  hanging  !"  and  "  We  didn't  come  a 
purpose  ;  had  business  and  came  round  this  way," — 
which  illustrates  the  Yankee  trait  of  never  admitting 
the  "  corn."  No  full-blooded  Yankee  ever  "  got  sold." 
This  New  York  elder  was  the  rascal  who  manipula- 
ted the  Jackson  liberty  pole,  which  was  put  up  near 
the  corner  of  State  and  Walnut  streets  in  1829.  The 
Jacksonites  tied  a  dog  to  watch  it,  and  also  stationed 
a  couple  of  men  there.  The  men  were  induced  to 
visit  the  tavern,  and  the  coming  elder  fed  the  dog 
meat,  meantime  boring  the  base  with  an  auger,  and 
dodging  down  whenever  the  door  was  opened  by  the 
watchful  enemy.  Soon  down  came  the  pole,  and  out 
came  the  enemy ;  but  the  fellow  started  across  the 
Armory  grounds,  escaped  the  guards  and  disappeared. 
A  reward  was  offered  for  his  arrest,  but  the  govern- 
ment watchman  called  the  hours  as  the  election  ap- 
proached in  blessed  ignorance,  and  the  culprit  still 
lives. 

The  early  appearance  of  the  houses  of  Springfield 
was  unprepossessing;  though,  soon  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, travelers  described  it  as  a  neat  and  orderly  place. 
There  were  but  two  brick  houses,  and  the  others  were 
shabby  and  unpainted.  As  the  Armory  grew,  red,  yel- 
low, and  brown-colored  buildings  multiplied,  and  in 
the  village  red  was  a  favorite  color,  as  it  was  at  Long- 
meadow,  where  nearly  the  whole  street  was  lined 
with  bright  red  homesteads.  There  were  no  porti- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  81 

cos,  piazzas  or  columns.  Timothy  Dwight  says  that 
it  was  customary  in  early  times  for  people  to  turn  in 
and  rebuild  men's  houses  when  they  were  burned, 
and  at  Springfield,  as  elsewhere  in  New  England,  two- 
thirds  of  the  people  slept  with  unbolted  doors. 

They  were  not  such  awfully  innocent  people,  though, 
as  all  this  comes  to.  John  Adams  said  he  was 
ashamed  of  the  age  he  lived  in.  With  simple  faith 
in  Puritan  blood  a  citizen  of  Brookfield  and  a  friend 
undertook,  this  memorial  year,  to  make  a  genealogical 
table  of  their  respective  families.  They  have  both 
stopped.  One  only  got  back  to  George  Ill's  time 
and  found  that  two  of  his  line  died  on  the  gallows, — 
and  he  has  gone  into  business  at  Chicago,  where  he 

has  no  time  for  study. 
11 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  BKECK  CONTROVERSY. 

THE  most  peculiar  episode  in  Springfield  story,  and 
one  little  dwelt  upon  in  the  books,  is  the  church  feud 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  which  ended  in 
the  settlement  of  Rev.  Robert  Breck  over  the  First 
Parish.  Radical  in  speculation,  and  daring  in  its  ex- 
pression, Rev.  Robert  Breck  found  himself,  at  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  in  a  strange  neighborhood,  con- 
fronted by  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  the  stiff  theology 
of  the  river.  In  a  sermon  at  New  London,  he  had 
charitably  said  :  "  What  will  become  of  the  heathen 
who  never  heard  of  the  Gospel,  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say,  but  I  cannot  but  indulge  a  hope  that  God,  in  his 
boundless  benevolence,  will  find  out  a  way  whereby 
those  heathen  who  act  up  to  the  light  they  have, 
may  be  saved."  The  news  of  this  alarming  hope 
came  to  Springfield  through  a  letter  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Williams,  of  Mansfield,  Conn.,  who  referred  to  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Clap  and  Kirtland,  as  persons  willing 
to  testify  to  Mr.  Breck's  unfitness  for  the  ministry. 
As  the  matter  grew  serious,  other  and  earlier  sins 
were  added  to  the  list.  He  had  stolen  books  when 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  83 

thirteen  years  old,  while  a  Harvard  student,  and  had 
afterward  denied  it;  he  doubted  the  inspiration  of 
the  8th  chapter  of  John ;  he  had  called  Mr.  Clap  a  liar; 
he  believed  that  there  was  no  difference  between  his- 
torical and  saving  faith ;  that  there  might  be  articles 
of  faith  not  contained  in  the  Scriptures ;  that  there 
was  no  encouragement  to  duty  if  God's  decrees  were 
absolute  ;  that  God  might  forgive  sin  without  any 
satisfaction,  etc.,  etc.  These  he  had  only  expressed 
before  he  was  of  age,  in  discussions,  and  were  not 
given  as  his  settled  belief.  The  juvenile  theft  of 
books  was  admitted,  and  forgiveness  asked  ;  but  when 
he  was  first  charged  with  it  by  Rev.  Mr.  Clap,  the  story 
Vas  so  garbled  that  he  denied  it,  and  thus  laid  him- 
self open  to  a  charge  of  prevarication,  the  most  seri- 
ous one  against  him.  But,  in  the  minds  of  the  River 
Gods,  heterodoxy  was  his  crime,  and  when  he  came 
to  Springfield,  in  1734,  he  found  them  eyeing  him 
with  suspicion. 

In  August,  the  Springfield  church  called  Rev.  Mr. 
Breck.  Two  months  later,  the  objections  to  his  set- 
tlement were  read  before  the  Hampshire  Association 
at  Suffield  ;  and  the  matter  here  dropped,  as  the 
church  did  not  accept  Mr.  Breck's  terms.  But  in 
November  it  came  up  again,  it  having  become  known 
that  certain  persons  of  note  had  obstructed  his  pro- 
posed settlement,  and  the  church  voted  to  get  the 
advice  of  the  ministers  of  the  county,  and  six  of  the 
thirteen  were  opposed  to  another  call.  The  advice 


84  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

was  not  followed,  and  Breck  again  returned  to  Spring- 
field to  meet  determined  opposition.  In  April,  1735, 
the  church  formally  asked  the  association  what  were 
the  objections  to  Mr.  Breck,  and  what  the  remedy. 
They  recommended  that  the  matter  be  referred  either 
to  the  Windham  (Conn.)  Association,  or  a  committee 
of  Hampshire  ministers.  This  recommendation  was 
also  rejected  by  the  church.  They  did  not  wish  to 
migrate,  in  order  to  settle  a  dispute,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Williams,  of  Longmeadow,  one  of  the  committee  of 
the  local  association,  was  known  to  be  prejudiced 
against  Breck.  They  offered  to  submit  the  case,  if 
Mr.  Williams  was  not  on  the  Hampshire  Association 
committee,  but  Mr.  Williams  did  not  see  fit  to  with- 
draw, and  the  association  supported  him.  The  case 
had  thus  not  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  associa- 
tion, except  for  advice,  and  the  church  had  clearly  a 
right  to  call  a  council  to  try  Mr.  Breck  with  a  view  of 
ordination.  Jonathan  Edwards  claimed  that  the  asso- 
ciation was  the  only  proper  judge  of  the  case, — on 
what  Congregational  grounds  does  not  appear.  To 
mend  matters,  Breck  asked  that  ministers  from  abroad 
sit  with  the  association  to  try  the  case.  Many  ob- 
jected to  this,  though  the  moderator,  the  venerable 
Mr.  Williams,  of  Hatfield,  did  not. 

Mr.  Williams'  course  in  this  matter,  however,  is 
very  singular.  While  stating  that  he  was  in  favor  of 
the  calling  in  of  foreign  ministers,  he  did  much  to 
prevent  it.  In  July,  Rev.  William  Cooper,  of  Boston, 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  85 

wrote  Mr.  Williams  at  Brack's  request  that,  when  the 
matter  came  up  again  before  the  association,  two  or 
three  from  abroad  might  be  asked  to  sit  with  it.  Mr. 
Williams  coldly  replied  :  "  I  think  it  not  proper  for 
me  to  give  Advise  or  Encouragement  to  the  coming 
of  other  Ministers  to  manage  that  Affair,  which  would 
serve  to  cast  a  Reflection  of  insufficiency  or  unfaith- 
fulness on  the  Ministers  of  the  County,  which  I  know 
no  cause  for ;  nor  doth  it  seem  to  have  a  Prospect  of 
promoting  his  Comfort  or  of  the  Peace  and  Love 
among  the  Ministers  of  the  County."  After  the 
church  had  called  its  council,  Mr.  Williams  wrote  the 
Boston  members  that  had  been  called  to  it,  "  I  can't 
but  take  it  something  hardly  that,  upon  Mr.  Breck's 
bare  .Word,  they  (Boston  churches)  should  think  so 
meanly  of  us  as  to  count  it  necessary  to  send  their 
Ministers  and  Delegates  to  interpose  in  that  affair." 
It  is  surely  good  Congregationalism  to  accept  an  invi- 
tation to  sit  in  an  ordaining  council,  and  the  Boston 
brethren  replied  by  proposing  that  the  association 
meet  at  Springfield,  instead  of  Deerfield.  Rev.  Mr. 
Williams'  answer  was  that  the  local  ministers  had 
been  illy  treated,  and  they  refused  to  do  it,  unless 
the  case  was  left  with  the  association.  Yet  Mr.  Wil- 
liams' letter  to  Mr.  Pynchon,  of  the  Springfield 
church,  was  entirely  of  a  different  character.  Re- 
ferring to  this  offer  of  the  Boston  brethren,  he  said 
he  would  accept  it,  and  use  his  influence  with  the  as- 
sociation to  that  end,  but  expressed  the  opinion  that 


00  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

the  proposed  meeting  was  impracticable.  He  thus 
built  up  a  home  reputation  of  favoring  a  meeting  of 
the  association  at  Springfield,  on  the  day  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  ordaining  council,  and  yet  did  much  to 
prevent  it,  by  such  cutting  letters  abroad. 

A  joint  letter  to  the  Springfield  church  was  written 
by  Mr.  Williams,  Samuel  Hopkins,  Jonathan  Edwards 
and  N.  Bull,  dated  August  14,  evidently  in  Edwards' 
handwriting,  in  which  they  say  :  "  We  account  it  pre- 
posterous for  ye  church  of  Springfield  to  call  him 
(Breck),  or  for  him  to  accept  a  call  to  ye  ministry 
till  ye  matter  objected  against  him  has  been  duly 
inquired  into.  *  *  We  hardly  think  any  num- 

ber of  ministers  will  be  found  to  serve  the  scheme  of 
Springfield  and  Mr.  Breck."  The  right  of  My.  Ed- 
wards to  stigmatize  a  regular  council,  to  try  a  minis- 
ter on  definite  charges,  a  "  scheme",  must  be  doubted, 
as  must  also  be  his  Congregationalism,  when,  a  few 
days  before,  he  had  said  the  association  was  the  only 
proper  judge  of  the  case.  According  to  history,  a 
Congregational  church  has  exclusive  control  of  its 
own  affairs,  and  the  association  is  an  organization  of 
ministers — not  of  churches — for  mutual  benefit,  hav- 
ing the  privileges  of  disfellowship,  giving  of  advice, 
and  other  things  of  that  nature.  The  singular  claim 
of  sole  jurisdiction  set  up  by  the  Hampshire  ministers, 
of  course  precipitated  an  explosion. 

The  day  set  for  the  ordination  was  Wednesday,  Oc- 
tober 8, 1735,  [0.  S.]  The  weather  had  been  cold,  and 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  87 

doors  were  closed  throughout  the  colony.  The  slice, 
fire-broom,  back -log,  and  the  pent-up  aroma  of  baked 
beans  and  "  brewins,"  again  lent  an  added  charm  to 
New  England  home  life.  A  week  before  the  meeting, 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Cooper,  Welsteed  and  Mather,  of 
Boston,  and  Cook,  of  Sudbury,  undertook  the  journey 
through  the  woods  to  Springfield.  The  prospect  for  a 
friendly  reception,  was  as  cheerless  as  the  weather. 
Cooper  and  Welsteed  called  on  Mr.  Williams  at  Long- 
meadow,  where  they  found  it  would  be  fruitless  to 
call  upon  the  Hatfield  Williams.  The  result  was, 
that  the  two  parties  kept  coldly  apart ;  which  in 
point  of  Christian  courtesy  the  local  ministry  should 
not  have  allowed.  The  Longmeadow  Williams  was 
more  conservative,  and  at  least  more  consistent  than 
his  Hatfield  namesake.  He  was  pretty  firm  in  his 
opposition  to  Mr.  Breck,  and  he  personally  advised 
the  putting  of  certain  evidence  against  him  on  rec- 
ord, over  the  signatures  of  Pynchon,  Worthington, 
and  others,  but  he  also  opposed  the  civil  interference 
of  the  council. 

The  ordaining  ministers  were  entertained  at  Madam 
Brewer's  (on  the  site  of  Fallon's  block).  Her  daugh- 
ter, Miss  Eunice  Brewer,  was  then  at  home,  and  here 
boarded  also  the  young  accused.  These  two  young 
people  were  pretty  well  agreed  on  things  besides  the- 
ology, and  a  novelist  might  have  a  good  word  to  say 
about  it ;  for  she  was  a  Chauncey,  descendant  of  the 
Chauncey  who  came  over  with  William  the  Conquer- 


88  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

or,  and  whose  family  married  into  the  Saxon  line  of 
kings,  and  up  in  the  cemetery  in  this  city  is  a  pre- 
revolutionary  grave-stone  with  this  inscription  :  "  Mrs 
Eunice  Breck,  the  Virtuous  Consort  of  the  Rev'd 
Robert  Breck  and  Daughter  of  the  Rev'd  Daniel 
Brewer." 

The  council,  consisting  of  Chauncey  of  Hadley,  De- 
votion of  Suffield,  Rand  of  Sunderland,  Cooper,  Wels- 
teed,  and  Samuel  Mather  of  Boston,  and  Cook  of 
Sudbury,  met  with  closed  doors  in  a  chamber  of  the 
parsonage,  on  the  morning  of  October  7.  The  Hat- 
field  Williams  was  also  included  in  the  letters  missive, 
but  he  declined  the  invitation.  Rev.  William  Cooper 
was  chosen  moderator.  The  "  dissatisfied  brethren  " 
of  the  Springfield  church,  being  asked  to  appear 
against  Breck,  wished  a  delay  until  3  p.  m.,  when 
they  presented  their  charges,  but  declined  the  proofs, 
as  the  council,  they  claimed,  was  not  legal.  This 
was  going  farther  than  Edwards  had  advised,  but  the 
feverish  state  of  public  opinion  had  had  its  effect 
upon  them.  The  hostile  ministers  had  arrived,  bring- 
ing with  them  some  justices  from  Northampton. 
They  all  "  put  up  "  at  one  tavern,  with  some  strang- 
ers, where  they  were  visited  by  the  "  dissatisfied," 
and  many  curious  rumors  were  afloat.  The  next 
morning,  Wednesday,  8th,  the  council  insisted  on 
proofs  to  the  charges  preferred,  and  were  refused ; 
but  the  information  was  volunteered  that  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Clap  and  Kirtland,  from  Connecticut,  were  in 


SPKINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  89 

the  village,  and  that  they  were  Mr.  Breck's  principal 
accusers.  A  brisk  word  and  pen  discussion  followed 
between  the  council  and  these  gentlemen,  resulting 
in  the  latter's  making  a  written  statement.  As  this 
was  the  day  set  for  the  ordination,  "  the  usual  prep- 
arations for  entertainment "  were  postponed. 

The  hostile  parties  in  this  singular  contest,  thus 
found  themselves  face  to  face.  Mr.  Clap,  afterward 
president  of  Yale  College,  began  to  read,  and  Mr. 
Breck  undertook  to  answer  him  as  he  proceeded, 
which  was  not  allowed.  This  secret  chamber  trial 
was  indeed  a  memorable  scene, — seven  wigged  judges, 
two  accusing  wigs  from  another  State,  and  the  broad- 
shouldered,  high-bred,  generous-hearted  boy  minister, 
whose  large  inspirations  had  charmed  a  village  con- 
gregation, and  given  a  shock  to  the  Connecticut  river 
Calvinism. 

Mr.  Clap  proceeded,  and  was  again  interrupted  by 
a  messenger  who  had  arrived  on  horseback.  They 
held  a  private  conference,  and  he  rode  away  "  with 
convenient  speed."  The  suspicion  that  Clap  had  di- 
vulged something  to  an  outsider,  was  confirmed  by 
the  appearance  of  an  officer  for  Breck's  arrest,  as 
Mr.  Clap  finished,  and  just  as  Breck  was  on  his  feet 
for  a  reply.  Holland,  in  his  History  of  Western 
Massachusetts,  says  :  "  After  they  had  assembled,  the 
sheriff,  with  his  posse,  marched  to  the  house  where 
they  were  in  session,  surrounded  it  with  his  force,  and 

then,  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  entered  the 
12 


90  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

room  where  the  council  were  examining  the  candi- 
date. There,  in  his  majesty's  name,  he  arrested  Mr. 
Breck,  and  ordered  him  to  prepare  himself  immedi- 
ately for  a  journey  to  New  London."  He  adds  that 
Breck  offered  bail,  which  the  sheriff  first  refused,  and 
then  accepted, — but  a  sheriff  doesn't  have  any  power 
to  take  bail  in  such  cases,  and,  as  the  warrant  was. 
not  for  his  appearance  at  New  London,  but  before  the 
justices,  there  is  evidently  more  paint  than  history  in 
this  account.  The  prisoner  was  taken  to  the  Town 
house  (on  Sanford  street),  amid  the  wildest  excite- 
ment. Violence  was  threatened,  but  through  the 
wise  advice  of  members  of  the  council,  this  was  pre- 
vented. Justices  Stoddard,  Dwight  and  Pumroy  had 
arrived  at  the  Town  house.  The  usual  manner  was 
for  the  bell  on  the  Town  house  to  ring  as  the  digni- 
taries leave  the  tavern  in  line,  preceded  by  a  sheriff 
with  a  tithing-pole.  The  attending  crowd  lent  unu- 
sual importance  to  these  manoeuvres,  which  were  in- 
deed dramatic  for  so  rural  a  stage. 

As  the  ministerial  prisoner  was  brought  in,  procla- 
mation was  made  before  the  crowded  and  breathless 
assembly,  for  any  who  would  testify  concerning  Mr. 
Breck's  principles  to  appear.  This  was  a  triumphant 
moment  for  the  home  party,  and  they  did  not  disguise 
it,  especially  the  "radiant  countenance  of  a  distin- 
guished personage  from  Connecticut."  The  first 
proposition  of  Breck's  enemies  had  been  to  arrest  the 
Boston  part  of  the  council,  and  this  was  the  plan 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  91 

when  the  council  met ;  but,  after  the  warrant  was 
drawn  up,  one  of  the  justices  was  in  doubt.  His 
hesitation  settled  into  a  final  refusal,  and  one  was 
hastily  drawn  and  signed  for  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Breck 
himself.  The  secret  conference  of  Clap  and  the  mes- 
senger, may  have  had  reference  to  this  change  of  tac- 
tics, and  the  arrest  was  indeed  a  surprise  all  round. 
Clap,  Kirtland,  and  otherg,  gave  the  evidence  which 
they  were  presenting  to  the  council.  Meantime,  the 
astonished  body  of  ordainers,  finding  themselves  with 
no  one  to  ordain,  sent  a  couple  of  their  number  to 
the  Town  house,  with  a  respectful  protest  against 
these  violent  proceedings,  and  claiming  that  they 
were  a  regular  council,  trying  Breck  on  the  selfsame 
charges  that  caused  his  arrest.  The  prisoner,  how- 
ever, was  detained  until  evening,  when  he  was  re- 
leased on  the  word  of  several  of  the  council  that  he 
would  return  when  summoned.  (A  debate  on  Mr. 
Breck's  bail  may  have  been  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Hol- 
land's Confusion  in  his  account.) 

The  next  morning,  (the  9th),  the  ordaining  council 
began  its  third  day's  session,  but  it  was  again  inter- 
rupted by  a  summons  from  the  justices. 

It  was  afternoon,  and  the  council  had  adjourned ; 
but  some  still  lingered  in  Madam  Brewer's  chamber, 
engaging  in  a  fireside  discussion,  when  a  member  of 
the  church  asked  for  a  copy  of  Mr.  Breck's  confession 
of  faith.  This  was  given  him,  and  he  retired  to  read  it. 
Inconsiderate  friends  called  together  a  crowd  in  front 


92  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

of  the  parsonage.  A  young  theologian  mounted  a 
horse,  and  read  aloud  to  the  crowd  this  concise  piece 
of  technical  theology.  It  was  accepted  as  an  honest 
statement,  and  a  deepened  feeling  of  the  outrage 
practiced  on  the  church,  was  engendered.  By  this 
time  the  "  dissatisfied "  had  won  their  case  at  the 
Town  house,  and  the  justices  had  signed  the  warrant 
for  Breck's  removal  to  New  London,  a  number  of  the 
church  being  chosen  to  accompany  him  in  "token  of 
respect."  There  was  the  wildest  excitement  as  he 
approached  the  street  from  the  Town  house,  in  the 
custody  of  the  officer.  The  bulk  of  the  yoemen, 
loyal  alike  to  King  George  and  to  their  Puritan  sense 
of  justice,  respected  the  officer  and  honored  the  pris- 
oner, by  accompanying  them  through  the  town,  and 
a  short  way  on  their  journey  south.  This  turn  of 
affairs  had  enlisted  the  inhabitants  independent  of 
church,  in  favor  of  the  young  man  whose  crime  was 
a  charity  broad  enough  to  save  ignorance  the  damna- 
tion of  wickedness.  Again  the  council  were  called 
upon  to  check  this  popular  indignation,  and,  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  October  10,  the  church  undertook  a 
private  conference  of  prayer,  but  finally  the  doors  of 
the  meeting-house  were  thrown  open,  and  a  charac- 
teristic New  England  scene — a  public  meeting  of 
humiliation  before  God — followed.  This  was  Friday, 
— a  "  Black  Friday  "  of  the  olden  time,  caused  by 
an  attempted  "  corner "  on  Calvinism, — and  we  have 
the  simple  chronicle  that  it  was  a  "  large  and  weep- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  93 

ing  assembly,"  which  listened  to  "  a  seasonable  dis- 
course." 

The  next  morning, — for  in  those  days,  through 
prayer  or  something  or  other,  people  had  a  way  of 
bringing  things  to  pass, — Mr.  Breck  returned  from 
New  London  acquitted,  and  there  were  great  felicita- 
tions among  the  people.  The  council,  still  in  session, 
announced  Mr.  Breck  orthodox,  but  the  ordination 
was  postponed.  The  case  came  up  before  the  Legis- 
lature, which  voted  that  the  council  was  a  regular 
one ;  that,  though  the  justices  had  right  by  law  to 
inquire  into  the  extraordinary  facts  charged  on  Mr. 
Breck,  yet  they  ought  not  by  any  means  to  have  in- 
terrupted that  church  and  ecclesiastical  council  while 
they  were  in  the  exercise  of  their  just  rights,  inquir- 
ing into  the  same.  Another  and  successful  attempt 
at  ordination  occurred  in  January,  1736,  Rev.  Mr. 
Cooper  delivering  the  sermon. 

In  April,  Mr.  Breck  crowned  his  success  by  leading 
to  the  altar  the  daughter  of  his  predecessor,  and  his 
strong  and  simple  ways,  his  rugged  manner  of  putting 
the  essentials  of  religion,  and  forgetting  the  rest,  soon 
disarmed  his  enemies,  though  they  were  slow  in  yield- 
ing. A  month  later,  they  petitioned  the  justices  to 
compel  the  church  to  settle  an  orthodox  minister. 
The  warrant  under  this  petition  is  in  the  hands  of 
Richard  Beebe,  of  this  city,  but  the  matter  was  never 
pressed.  On  the  22d  of  March,  Mr.  Breck  had  a  talk 
with  D.  and  John  Chapin,  of  the  "  dissatisfied,"  and 


94  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

they  expressed  themselves  after  the  interview  as  "just 
as  much  dissatisfied  as  ever."  But  Mr.  Breck  grew, 
and  during  forty-nine  years  of  good  preaching  the 
church  grew  with  him,  and  he  now  lies  with  his  con- 
gregation up  in  the  cemetery,  having  made  a  gener- 
ous contribution  toward  liberal  Christianity. 

Mr.  Breck  might  have  done  more,  perhaps,  if  he 
had  not  yielded  to  the  times  so  far  as  to  subscribe  to 
that  confession  of  faith,  Calvinistic  enough  to  include 
by  implication  the  damnation  of  babies,  which  was 
read  at  his  ordination.  His  willingness,  however,  to 
yield  all  he  could  in  conscience,  was  one  of  the  lines 
of  his  power  with  the  people,  and,  after  the  matter 
was  over,  the  Hampshire  ministers  were  in  such  an 
awkward  position,  they  were  forced  "  by  the  Clamour 
that  the  County  was  filled  with  against  us,"  to  issue 
a  couple  of  pamphlets  in  defence  of  themselves.  In 
one  of  these  they  insisted  that  a  retraction,  as  well 
as  a  confession,  should  have  been  read  at  the  ordina- 
tion, quoting  the  case  of  Barrett  at  Cambridge 
(England),  in  1554,  who  had  to  retract  and  express 
humiliation  for  doctrines  far  less  corrupt  than  Breck's. 
The  three  pamphlets  issued  in  this  matter  were  not 
in  the  best  spirit  on  either  side,  and  are  better  exam- 
ples of  special  pleading,  than  of  a  broad  regard  for  facts. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  more  serious  charges  of 
stealing  books  and  prevarication,  were  left  in  the 
background,  the  ministers  claiming  that  their  printed 
account  of  it,  as  given  by  Mr.  Clap,  was  "  without 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  95 

one  reflection  on  that  particular ;  we  never  made  it 
an  article  against  him,"  which  indicates  how  theolog- 
ical speculation  may  be  carried  on  at  the  expense  of 
morals. 

But  the  best  part  of  it  is,  that  in  those  days  men 
came  honestly  by  their  differences,  though  they  had 
unpleasantly  peculiar  ways  of  propagating  their  no- 
tions. After  it  was  all  over,  it  is  good  to  see  Mr. 
Breck  asking  his  enemy,  the  Longmeadow  Williams, 
to  officiate  at  his  marriage,  and  to  hear  the  noble  man 
of  God,  as  he  grasps  the  young  minister's  hand  say, 
"  Brother  Breck,  I  had  objections  to  your  settlement, 
but  I  know  no  reasons  why  you  should  not  marry," 
and  he  married  them.  When  the  time  came,  Mr. 
Breck  returned  the  compliment,  as  Dickens'  bore 
would  say,  by  preaching  Mr.  Williams'  funeral  ser- 
mon. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FASHIONS  AND  THINGS. 

Says  Aaron  to  Moses 
"Let's  cut  off  our  noses." 
Says  Moses  to  Aaron 
"  It's  the  fashion  to  wear  'ein." 

AND  Mother  Bunch  isn't  the  only  mortal  who  has 
said  wise  things  on  the  subject  of  fashions.  .They  say 
Fashion  is  the  most  despotic  and  whimsical  Queen 
that  wears  a  crown.  But  it  is  not  so  certain  that 
there  is  not  philosophy  in  her  annual  decree  about 
the  tip  of  a  hat  brim  or  length  of  a  petticoat.  The 
"Almanac  de  Savoir-Vivre  "  charges  upon  Saint  Beuve 
eight  offenses  at  the  Emperor  Napoleon's  dinner  table, 
and  your  constitutional  independent  smiles  at  such 
society  thumb-screws.  However,  the  trait  in  human 
nature  that  bows  to  changing  modes  of  dress  and  eti- 
quette is  quite  as  important  as  that  which  resists  it. 

It  was  not  a  whim  that  Paris  and  the  obedient 
world  of  fashion  changed  its  dress  so  radically  in 
1789-90 ;  it  was  philosophy  or  philosophy  run  mad 
that  did  it.  You  often  can  read  a  man's  religion  and 
philosophy  in  his  coat-tail.  The  African  missionary 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  97 

says  that  the  first  sign  of  regeneration  in  a  naked  sav- 
age is  seen  in  a  desire  for  decent  covering  for  his 
body,  and  they  consider  him  on  the  "  anxious  seat " 
when  he  puts  on  a  shirt.  The  christianizing  influ- 
ence of  a  shirt-tail  may  not  be  so  apparent  here,  but 
in  the  desert  it  "  makes  for  righteousness."  History 
teaches  that  a  revolution  in  thought  or  politics  is 
followed  by  a  change  of  tailors.  When  Robespierre 
fell,  red  night-caps  and  wooden  shoes  went  with  him, 
and  monstrous  swallow-tails,  sharp  toed  slippers  and 
cocked  hats  appeared,  and  the  ladies  wore  the  classi- 
cal style,  the  "  merveilleuse"  with  loose  hanging 
dress  and  no  waist  to  speak  of,  attempting  a  nude 
simplicity.  In  America,  by  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  those  who  are  familiar  with  their  garrets  or 
have  attended  centennial  tea  parties  know  that  even 
the  small  towns  in  New  England  had  attained  to 
sufficient  nudity  in  their  dress-gowns.  The  waist  was 
directly  below  the  bust  and  was  a  very  few  inches  in 
length.  The  embroidered  petticoat  was  short  and  the 
overskirt  caught  up  with  roses  ;  and  the  sleeves  a  little 
below  the  elbow.  You  have  but  to  recall  the  morals 
of  the  early  part  of  the  century  to  see  proof  that 
styles  mean  something.  It  was  not  by  chance  that 
Franklin  appeared  at  court  in  a  suit  of  sober  brown, 
and  that  as  by  magic,  lace  and  embroidery  and  pow- 
dered curls  were  put  away  and  for  the  moment,  straight 
brown  coats  and  straight  cut  hair  were  all  the  rage. 
To  go  back  farther,  it  was  no  trick  that  the  men  who 

13 


98  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

came  over  in  that  rented  vessel,  the  Mayflower,  had 
broad-brimmed  hats  and  long  coats,  straight  as  the 
yard-stick  of  their  morals,  thus  differing  from  the 
more  festive  apparel  of  the  English  owners  of.  that 
bark.  The  fight  of  the  Continentals  and  Red  Coats 
over  the  historic  rail  fence,  down  Boston  way,  was  a 
fight  over  a  change  of  fashion,  the  old  and  new  fash- 
ion of  government.  Charles  VII.  of  France  may  have 
adopted  long  coats  to  hide  his  awkward  legs,  and  been 
justified  in  thus  setting  the  fashion ;  Henry  Plantag- 
enet  may  have  invented  the  long  pointed  shoe  to 
cover  an  excrescence  of  toe  ;  the  male  world  may 
have  cut  its  hair  once  on  a  time  because  Francis  I. 
was  compelled  by  a  wound  to  do  it,  and  the  female 
world  may  have  put  on  hoops  because  a  certain  queen 
did  it  in  order  to  hide  "  an  accident  in  her  history ;  " 
still  it  surely  is  true  that  the  world  does  not  dress  by 
accident.  The  dress  of  the  Puritans  in  1620  was  a 
caricature  on  propriety  compared  with  their  English 
brethren  of  the  court,  though  the  same  dear  queen  of 
fashion  reigned  at  Paris.  And  the  change  in  dress  so 
marked  between  the  early  settlers  and  our  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  indicate  how  thought  had  changed. 
Cast-iron  religion  had  been  softened,  though  its  valor- 
ous purpose  of  independence  was  retained.  The  broad 
brim  was  doffed  for  the  cocked  hat  and  it  indicated, 
as  that  hat  always  did,  authority,  with  the  new  inter- 
pretation of  power  from  the  people  instead  of  a  myth- 
ical "  divine  right "  to  rule. 


SPKINGFIELD   MEMOEIES.  99 

Thus,  then,  it  is  no  idle  curiosity  that  one  seeks  his 
great  grandmother's  wedding  dress  and  shoes,  for  he 
may  learn  of  the  character  of  her  age.  Without 
undertaking  to  give  the  names  of  the  Springfield  fam- 
ilies that  have  preserved  the  few  scant  remnants  of 
early  ways,  we  may  draw,  perhaps  not  far  from  the 
real,  a  picture  of  a  common  housewife,  living  on 
Springfield  Main  street,  any  time  from  Queen  Anne's 
war  to  the  Revolution.  She  stands  in  the  low  raftered 
kitchen,  perhaps  with  no  floor  but  the  hard  polished 
clay  surface,  looking  through  the  small  paned  win- 
dows [7  x  9,  or  9  x  10],  toward  the  river  to  which 
her  husband's  home  lot  extends,  and  waiting  his  arri- 
val ;  for  there  are  canoes  hitched  along  the  bank  at 
the  foot  of  every  lot,  and,  in  the  summer,  it  is  almost 
the  only  means  of  conveyance.  All  the  hay  and  wood 
and  crops  are  thus  taken  from  place  to  place.  He 
soon  arrives  in  buckskin  breeches  and  an  old  worn- 
out,  home-spun,  snuff-colored  waistcoat,  and  home- 
made shoes,  with  a  fine  shad  on  a  deer-skin  string. 
He  had  thrown  away  half  a  dozen  salmon  before  he 
caught  his  shad,  as  he  never  would  have  heard  the 
last  of  it  among  "  the  folks,"  if  he  had  brought  home 
a  "  mess  of  salmon."  They  were  too  plenty  in  the 
river.  The  sight  of  this  shad  settles  the  question  of 
dinner,  and  neither  the  hams  that  have  lasted  over 
from  last  winter  and  are  still  hanging  on  the  rafters, 
or  the  chicken-house,  back  of  the  pig-pen,  which  is 
nearly  in  front  of  the  house  and  surely  over  the  road 


100  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

line,  or  the  pot  of  beans  that  hangs  on  the  crane  in 
the  fire-place,  are  to  be  touched.  She  pushes  up  the 
bench  under  the  loom,  where  she  has  been  making 
checkered  flannel,  and,  taking  a  peep  into  the  oven 
to  see  that  the  brown  bread  and  pies,  (New  England 
is  death  on  delicious  pies,  and  it  is  a  shameful  innova- 
tion from  old  England  that  the  well-cidered  and  rai- 
sined  mince  pie  after  a  Thanksgiving  dinner  of  the 
olden  time  should  be  put  aside  for  the  plum-pudding) 
are  to  be  ready  for  dinner,  and  seeing  that  the  fire- 
broom  and  slice  are  in  the  "  corner."  takes  down  the 
turn-spit  for  the  fish.  If,  as  she  tends  the  cooking, 
she  speaks  of  her  neighbor's  husband's  shirt-ruffle  as 
looking  at  'lection  as  though  it  was  ironed  with  a 
slice,  be  sure  she  is  of  the  commonest  of  New  Eng- 
land stock,  whq  does  not  fancy  any  pretentions  in 
dress  or  speech ;  but  if  she  says  it  looked  as  though 
ironed  with  a,  peel,  then  conclude  that  her  shoes  o' 
Sundays  have  rather  high  heels,  nearly  in  the  middle 
of  the  foot,  and  that  she  sees  to  it  that  her  husband's 
knee-buckles  are  not  steel,  but  of  paste  diamonds. 
"Peel"  is  the  English  term  for  fire-shovel,  and  "slice" 
the  every  day  New  England  term.  To  use  the  former 
was  considered  an  affectation.  The  fire-broom  with 
which  she  had  cleaned  the  oven  in  the  morning,  pre- 
paratory to  baking,  is  made  by  binding  coarse  husks 
to  a  handle  and  the  husks  "  stick  out "  in  an  ill-man- 
nerly way.  If  the  children  who  return  from  school 
have  their  hair  in  the  least  displaced,  they  are  re- 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  101 

minded  that  their  heads  "  look  like  fire-brooms ; " 
for  propriety  and  order  is  the  rule  of  this  humble 
abode.  We  notice  as  she  stands  before  the  fire-place 
tending  the  shad,  that  her  shoes  which  are  in  sight, 
as  her  straight  gown  and  petticoat  are  short,  are  made 
of  calf-skin  and  were  evidently  cobbled  by  the  head 
of  the  house  from  leather  obtained  at  the  last  butch- 
ering and  tanned  at  home.  She  has  a  kerchief  over 
her  shoulders  which  crosses  on  her  breast  with  the 
ends  fastened  into  a  belt,  and  she  has  a  white  cap  on 
her  head.  After  dinner  she  often  brings  out  a  cap 
with  a  frill  of  great  size,  so  that  her  husband,  when 
he  popped  the  question,  had  to  walk  round  directly  in 
front  in  order  to  be  certain  he  was  "  shining  up  "  to 
the  right  person.  Passing  the  skillet  and  warming- 
pan  which  hang  near  the  fire,  she  takes  from  the 
dresser  the  array  of  pewter  plates  and  the  platter,  and 
there  is  a  commotion  on  the  rack  of  spoons.  The 
children  being  about,  it  is  necessary  for  her  some- 
times to  stoop  under  the  articles  of  clothing  that  hang 
on  poles  over  head.  There  is  a  common  mug  for 
drinking  purposes  and  perhaps  she  visits  the  tankard 
for  beer  before  the  meal  begins.  She  puts  on  another 
cap  and  apron  from  her  very  abundant  stock;  for, 
like  her  neighbors,  her  number  of  caps  and  the 
neatness  and  richness  of  the  white  curtains  on  her 
bed,  are  the  pride  of  her  little  home. 

The  pity  of  it,  she  doesn't  ask  us  to  sit  down  to 
dinner,  though  she  surely  would  if  she  had  nothing 


102  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

but  hasty  pudding  to  offer ;  therefore,  we  decline  to 
help  her  scour  her  pewter  plates  after  dinner,  till  they 
shine  like  silver  moons,  but  can't  choose  but  admire 
the  rapidity  with  which  she  knits.  If  her  husband 
does  a  little  coopering  or  carpentering  when  planting 
and  harvesting  time  is  over,  perhaps  she  may  have 
an  ivory  knitting-sheath  in  which  the  needle  is  placed. 
Otherwise  she  takes  two  pieces  of  woolen  cloth  and 
sews  a  narrow  slip,  large  enough  to  admit  a  goose 
quill,  and  this  is  pinned  to  her  side,  and  the  needle 
run  in  this  to  keep  it  in  place  while  knitting. 

If  the  good  housewife  is  a  woman  of  years  and 
grown-up  family,  we  might  be  drawn  to  a  figure  near 
by,  whom  John  Alden  has  recently  described  and 

called 

PRISCILLA. 

Priscilla,  youn  g  and  sweet  and  fair, 
Sits  in  a  queer  old  high-backed  chair, 
And  makes  with  such  a  pretty  air 

Pretense  of  spinning; 
And  with  her  bright  and  laughing  eyes 
She  looks  across  the  wheel  she  plies ; 
Bound  her  half-parted  lips  there  lies 

A  smile  so  winning. 

And  with  what  seems  an  antique  grace, 
How  sweetly  doth  her  lovely  face 
Rise  o'er  her  ruff's  encircling  lace, 

And  set  us  dreaming 
Of  roses  peering  from  the  snow, 
As  bright  her  blushing  cheeks  do  glow 
As  any  rose  that  ere  did  blow, 

With  rare  sweets  teeming. 


SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES.  103 

And  like  twin  stars  her  glancing  eyes 
Reflect,  from  out  their  orbed  skies, 
The  light  a  painter  well  might  prize 

Beyond  his  medal. 

Graceful  she  stretches  forth  her  hand, 
As  if  to  start  the  distaff's  band; 
Beneath,  her  light  foot  steals  out  and 

Moves  the  swift  treadle. 

A  little  cap  of  sable  hue 

Her  brown  hair  hides,  yet  lets  us  view, 

Beneath  its  upturned  edge  of  blue, 

Soft  fringes,  showing  ; 
A  rose  blooms  at  her  snowy  throat, 
And  o'er  her  silken  petticoat 
An  apron  white  doth  downward  float, 

To  her  feet  going. 

Her  namesake  sweet  she  doth  recall ; 
Her  downy  kerchief's  rise  and  fall 
Doth  strangely  move  us  one  and  all, 

Till  we're  beginning 
Within  our  hearts,  somehow,  to  feel — 
We're  at  a  shrine  where  we  must  kneel 
To  that  fair  saint  behind  the  wheel, 

Priscilla,  spinning. 

To  continue  our  ifs,  this  family  may  have  lived  on 
the  street  in  1759.  In  which  case  it  might  be  inter- 
esting for  us  to  step  out  doors,  for  in  that  year  in- 
spectors from  Northampton  examined  the  street  and 
found  over  thirty  of  Springfield's  best  families  had 
encroached  on  the  road.  In  some  cases,  the  fence 
had  been  advanced  ;  in  some  cases  it  was  the  pig-pen 


104  SPRINGFIELD    MEMORIES. 

or  shop.  Among  those  fined  were  Rev.  Mr.  Breck, 
Colonel  Worthington  and  Edward  Pynchon. 

Requests  for  public  prayer  were  common,  the  fol- 
lowing, read  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hooker,  at  Northampton, 
about  1760,  being  good  examples: 

"  Benajah  Strong  Junr  being  Dangrousley  Sick  with 
the  plurisey  Desiers  the  prayers  of  the  congregashan 
for  him  his  pairence  Desiers  the  Same." 

"  Noah  Bridgman  jun.  and  his  wif  Desire  that 
thanks  might  Be  given  to  God  in  this  Congregation 
for  his  goodness  to  em  in  Preserving  the  Life  of  there 
Child  when  emenently  exposed  By  a  Suden  fall  from 
a  horse  ;  they  allso  Desire  Prayer  it  may  be  healed  of 
its  Brusese." 

"  Oliver  Burt  and  his  wife  Desires  thanks  may  be 
given  to  god  in  the  Congregation  for  his  goodness  to 
them  in  preserving  there  oldes  Child  when  in  Emen- 
ent  Danger  of  Being  Drouned." 

Fashions,  like  morals,  continued  to  change,  until 
the  Revolution.  The  courtly  styles  of  that  period 
have  become  familiar  to  us  during  this  memorial  year. 
A  lady's  coiffure  was  elaborate  and  striking,  the  pre- 
vailing mode  being  the  pompadour.  Local  garrets 
give  accounts  of  satin  slips,  (underskirts),  very,  very 
narrow,  with  bright-colored  overskirts  cut  close  to  the 
form.  The  neck  was  diamond-shape,  and  the  waist 
extended  but  just  below  the  bust.  The  overskirt  had 
a  few  gathers  at  the  back.  There  are  also  remains 
of  satin  shoes  with  pointed  toes  and  altitudinous  heels, 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  105 

rich  trains  of  great  lengths  and  sleeves  of  great  brev- 
ity. The  pumpkin-head  hoods  resurrected  for  cen- 
tennial parties,  were  worn  one  hundred  years  ago. 
In  this  century,  the  scanty  petticoats,  and  low  neck 
and  classic  gown  are  remembered  by  the  aged  among 
us  ;  as,  also,  the  later  leghorns  and  calashes  and  van- 
dykes.  Calashes  were  made  of  rattan  and  silk.  By 
pulling  a  cord  called  the  bridle,  it  could  be  brought 
clear  over  the  face,  in  case  of  storm  or  modesty.  They 
used  to  say,  "  Come,  put  on  your  calash  and  Vandyke, 
and  take  your  black  knitting  work."  It  was  the  say- 
ing that  when  a  woman  brought  her  black  knitting- 
work,  she  "had  come  to  stay  a  fortnight." 

There  was  in  the  early  times  much  formality  at 
funerals.  Persons  of  distinction  were  carried  on  the 
shoulders  of  strong  pall-bearers ;  and,  when  the  dis- 
tance from  the  house  to  the  grave  was  great,  it  is 
related  that  relays  of  pall-bearers  were  provided,  and 
something  having  a  strong  resemblance,  both  in  flavor 
and  odor,  to  the  best  cherry  ruin,  also  furnished.  The 
stories  growing  out  of  this  funeral  custom  are  plenty 
enough,  not  only  here,  but  among  all  the  up-river 
families,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  bluer  blooded 
personages  were  well  wept,  well  honored,  and  well 
feasted,  at  their  demise.  One  of  the  more  foolish 
superstitions  among  the  lesser  families,  which  is  even 
now  seen  in  the  dark  corners  of  our  little  creation 
was,  that  after  death  the  cats  in  the  neighborhood 
were  given  a  super-feline  taste  for  human  flesh,  and 

14 


106  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

there  has  probably  been  as  much  care  taken  among 
this  class  of  people,  to  see  that  these  "  possessed " 
animals  were  not  gratified,  as  to  look  after  the  relig- 
ious arrangement. 

One  good  custom  people  used  to  have,  and  that 
was  to  keep  a  lookout  when  their  neighbors  were  in 
distress.  Some  forty  years  ago,  a  little  brother  of  the 
present  Dr.  Bliss,  of  Beirut  College,  was  lost  in  the 
dingle  (cemetery).  He  had  gone  there  to  get  chest- 
nuts. At  night  the  First  church  bell  was  rung,  and 
almost  every  man  in  the  village  turned  out  with  a 
lantern,  and  filled  the  dingle  with  lamps,  but  to  no 
purpose.  Parties  were  organized  to  go  in  different 
directions.  One  of  them,  including  Major  Ingersoll, 
took  the  Chicopee  road,  along  which  were  seen  little 
foot-prints.  These  led  to  the  bank  of  the  Chicopee 
river,  and  there  stopped  with  its  fearful  suggestions. 
They  pursued,  however,  up  the  river  for  some  dis- 
tance, to  where  they  found  some  boards,  and  under 
them  the  sleeping  wanderer.  He  had  pulled  them 
over  him,  and  fallen  asleep  from  exhaustion.  It  had 
been  arranged  that  if  the  child  was  found,  notice  of 
it  should  be  given  by  firing  a  cannon ;  so  the  Major 
hastened  back  with  the  good  news,  and  at  4  o'clock, 
on  that  weary  Sunday  morning,  the  discouraged 
searchers  learned  of  the  discovery  by  the  firing  of 
cannon,  on  the  Armory  Hill,  and  there  was  great  re- 
joicing. About  that  time  cooperative  action  was 
applied  to  the  evil  of  counterfeiting.  Colonel  Russell 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  107 

and  others  kept  close  watch,  and  were  soon  satisfied 
that  their  man  had  his  headquarters  at  Springfield. 
One  evening  when  a  pretty  strong  guard  were  out 
on  horseback,  the  Colonel  noticed  a  suspicious  look- 
ing fellow  passing  them  on  horseback,  and,  continu- 
ing up  Main  street,  they  soon  saw  another  horseman 
coming  down.  It  appears  he  had  stopped  somewhere 
about  Ferry  street,  and  changed  his  clothes  as  a 
disguise.  The  Colonel  and  others  turned  about. 
The  fellow,  seeing  he  was  followed,  put  whip  to  his 
horse.  A  hot  race  ensued,  and  the  party  reached 
Palmer  before  the  counterfeiter  was  taken.  He  was 
tried  before  John  Ingersoll,  justice  of  the  peace.  In 
his  saddle-bag  were  found  counterfeit  bills  and  stock- 
ings full  of  specie,  which  he  had  probably  exchanged 
for  his  worthless  paper. 

It  was  cooperation  also,  they  used  in  dealing  with 
Satan.  People  turned  out  pretty  liberally  at  the 
services.  Saturday  nights  Dr.  Osgood  used  to  hold  a 
Bible  class  in  the  old  Parish  house,  and  he  often  had 
three  hundred  scholars.  It  was  as  much  a  Sunday 
service  as  the  morning  preaching,  but  Sunday  night 
all  was  over,  and  the  fellows  would  begin  the  week,  as 
it  were,  by  going  to  see  their  girls.  Springfield  streets 
are  described  by  aged  people  as  being  almost  de- 
serted evenings, — an  occasional  going  to  and  from 
houses,  but  no  habitual  walking.  Business  hours 
were  not  crowded  into  the  night ;  more  was  made 
of  home  and  home  amusements.  The  little  boys 


108  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

often  thought  family  services  were  a  little  too  long 
at  home,  and  would  like  more  freedom.  There  was 
George  Colton,  an  honest  and  devoted  church-goer. 
He  always  had  one  prayer  at  the  meeting  and  at 
home.  Most  people  had  learned  it, — he  pronounced  it 
slowly  enough  and  often  enough.  His  last  sentence 
was :  "  And  to  thee  we  give  never  ending  praises. 
Amen."  One  Fourth  of  July  morning,  his  little  pat- 
riotic son  was  at  his  wits'  end  during  devotions.  With- 
out, crackers  were  popping,  boys  a-shouting  and  can- 
non firing.  As  the  paternal  prayer  drew  its  long 
length  to  the  close,  the  excited  boy,  not  being  able  to 
wait,  sang  out,  "  and  to  thee  we  give  never  ending 
praises.  Amen.  Heard  it  a  thousand  times ;"  and 
ran  out  of  the  door  before  he  could  be  caught. 

An  eagle  once  lit  on  the  rooster  of  the  First  church 
steeple,  affording  fun  for  the  local  sports.  Dr.  Dan- 
iel C.  Brewer  brought  out  his  rifle  and  fired  under  it. 
The  impudent  bird  did  not  stir.  The  second  shot 
**  put  daylight "  through  the  rooster,  and  the  eagle 
flew.  He  soared  over  the  town,  way  off  about  Aga- 
wam,  and  at  length  sailed  back  to  his  perch  on  the 
rooster.  Again  the  Doctor  tried  his  hand  and  brought 
him.  But  his  claws  were  set,  so  he  hung  still  to  the 
rooster.  At  length  he  fell  and  was  duly  stuffed  and 
admired,  for  it  was  a  large  bird. 

On  the  whole  we  must  conclude  that  the  people  of 
75  and  100  years  ago,  in  spite  of  their  traditional 
religious  guards,  had  many  very  glaring  immoralities. 


SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES.  109 

Profanity  was  very  common;  disgustingly  so.  It 
called  out  action  in  the  Continental  Congress  against 
it,  and  Washington  said  no  gentleman  would  be 
guilty  of  it,  though  if  this  is  the  case,  he  was  confess- 
edly ungentlemanly  on  occasion.  Even  legislation 
was  not  pure,  in  state  or  country.  Congress  sanc- 
tioned lotteries  for  objects  of  public  weal  and  charity, 
and  men  remember  the  excitement  at  the  drawing  of 
the  lottery  for  the  Springfield  bridge  over  the  river, 
about  1 820.  The  drawing  occurred  at  Jeremy  War- 
riner's  tavern,  and  two  little  girls  dressed  all  in  white, 
turned  the  lottery  wheel, — a  sort  of  gamblers'  angels, 
you  would  say.  Few  people  know  just  how  they  are 
going  to  look  to  posterity.  We  should  be  greatly 
scandalized  if  a  Springfield  minister  should  have  an 
ordination  ball,  as  was  formerly  common.  At  Mr. 
Osgood's  ordination  ball,  four  good  church  members, 
who  have  since  attained  honorary  titles  and  distin- 
guished children,  retired  to  a  room  over  Blake's  shop, 
and  played  cards.  Perhaps  the  secret  history  of  the 
past  had  better  not  be  pursued  further. 

Now  that  the  Fourth  of  July,  1876,  is  past,  the  day 
on  which  Ira  Fancher,  of  Sandy  Hill,  N.  Y.,  prophe- 
sied (his  sixteenth  prophecy,)  that  the  world  was  to 
come  to  an  end,  based  on  the  text :  "  For  the  child 
shall  die  an  hundred  years  old,"  and  our  own  sins, 
magnified  by  the  possibility  of  so  terrible  an  event, 
having  taken  on  their  true  proportion,  I  think  we 
cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that  in  morals,  in  relig- 


110  SPRINGFIELD   MEMORIES. 

ion,  and  even  in  patriotic  service,  we  are  better  than 
our  Revolutionary  fathers.  A  hundred  years  of  dream- 
ing has  covered  up  the  black  and  magnified  the 
white  on  their  robes.  Open  immorality  is  not  as 
common;  drunkenness  lives  more  in  the  dark;  men 
died  as  quickly  and  valorously  on  the  battle-fields  of 
the  Civil  war  as  the  Revolutionary ;  and  public  men, 
we  may  say  even  in  sight  of  the  smoke  of  a  bitter 
political  campaign,  look  more  to  their  conscience. 
Literature  and  art  have  grown  in  the  right  direction, 
invention  has  drawn  the  world's  recognition,  and  in 
every  thing,  save  an  ill-bred  disregard  for  superiors 
and  a  certain  boorishness  of  manners,  especially 
among  children,  the  good  old  time  is  not  so  good  as 
the  good  present  time. 


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